Prodigious
by HHaines
Summary: The Avengers are looking to settle. They all take apprentices, hoping to replace themselves. However, when the secrets of the mini-Avengers are exposed, everything threatens to collapse. What will the Avengers do when everything goes awry?
1. 1Chapter1

Hi! This is my first FanFiction, so bear with me. I've been playing around with this idea for a while, and wanted to put it into writing! A little background on this story- It is set in 2025, which in my fabricated timeline, is seven years after the Decimation happened and two years after the Avengers beat Thanos. I retained most things from Endgame, so there is some spoilers. In my version of Endgame, Natasha and Tony did not die and Steve came back (the same age) from returning the stones. Also, this makes no sense, but the only Avengers that are still on the team in my story are the original six: Natasha, Thor, Clint, Tony, Bruce, and Steve. The other Avengers, like Wanda, Sam, Rhodey, and so on exist but are not on the team anymore for various reasons. Mostly because I just wanted to write about the original team *shrug*. Heros like T'Challa, Strange, Bucky, Scott, Carol, and so on exist but are off having their own adventures and are not closely associated with the team, though some of them might show up at different points (: The Avengers are living in the Avengers compound and S.H.I.E.L.D. has been reinstated. I plan to try and update this story on a weekly basis. think that's all you guys need to know, so enjoy!

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The last cool breezes of autumn wafted in through a set of French Doors at the Paillettes. Though Tony had booked, or rather demanded, them a room on the 60th floor, Pepper Potts could still hear the sirens and honking horns of New York City far below her. Pepper climbed out of the unrealistically soft bed, careful not to disturb sleeping Tony, and padded across the carpet. She pushed the two doors open wider, letting the morning light into the room, and walked out onto the small balcony that jutted out from the side of the hotel. Pepper gazed at the hundreds of yellow, orange, and red trees dotting Central Park, and joggers that seemed much like ants from where she was standing, so high above everything else. Since her and Tony's hotel room was facing the giant patch of nature, there were no other buildings in front of it, just a wide open expanse of sky. It was a windy day, and Pepper's hair and pajamas whipped around her as she sucked in a breath of air through her nose. At that moment, Tony Stark awoke with a start.

"Pepper? Pepper, where are you?" Tony frantically whipped his head around, realizing his wife was not in the room with him. He clenched his fists while his heart rate rocketed. "Pepper?"

"Tony?" Pepper backtracked from the stone of the balcony to the carpet, and finally to the bed. "I'm right here." As soon as he saw her, Tony visibly relaxed. He let go of the sheets he was clutching, and as his heart rate returned to normal, he attempted to hide the fact that his mind had jumped to the worst possibilities six seconds ago. "Out gazing at the commoners?"

Pepper just rolled her eyes, knowing his asinine remarks were a product of his paranoia. "We're not royalty."

"Well, I consider you my queen." Tony pulled her down next to him, Pepper snickering as she came.

"That was as cheesy as they come! 'You're my queen' that's all you could come up with?" She teased as they both fell back onto the bed. They were both chuckling, and while Tony would normally shoot back a retort, he simply seemed... happy. Happy with to be with her and only her. This thought consoled Pepper, until, right on cue, he picked up the remote.

Tony sat up and grabbed the remote for the wide flatscreen TV across the room from them. He flipped through four channels before he came to CNN, and then set the remote on the comforter. Pepper, lying down, couldn't see what the news was displaying, but could hear what the anchors were spouting. The usual of course: murders, sexual assault, bombings, shootings, politics. But not forgetting the resident feel good story, a dog being rescued from the wilderness, a baby beating all odds of survival, and so on. She sighed. _Every time,_ Pepper thought, _every time I think he's content_. She knew the drill. When her husband wasn't around the Avengers, or one of his Stark pads, or phones, or especially FRIDAY, Tony would require some direct connection to the world. A link to keep him informed in the event of something cataclysmic happening. Tony was never at ease, no matter how hard Pepper tried to provide a relaxing environment when they were together, and he disliked being unable to predict when the Avengers would be needed. Pepper understood this, in light of the things he had experienced before. He had, after all, watched his friends die, not to mention the closest person he had to a son literally crumbled in his arms. Well, at the time anyways. Now they had Morgan.

Morgan Stark. Morgan Petra Stark. Tony had insisted that Morgan's middle name be after Peter Parker. Pepper didn't mind, she liked it. She loved Peter, and even if she hadn't of wanted Petra as a middle name, she wouldn't have pushed it. Tony had grown extremely protective of Peter after they were able to reverse the Decimation, and this extended to Morgan. Tony did everything to protect them, and she could tell now that Peter was at MIT, he was especially apprehensive. She had begged Tony before to put away his suits, to take out his nanotech housing unit, if not only for Morgan's safety, but he was stubborn. He argued that he was protecting Morgan by keeping the Iron Man moniker, but Pepper felt that Tony being an Avenger just kept inching him closer to death and away from his her and his daughter. She had experienced, over the years, that being a superhero was not the glorified position that people made it out to be, but rather facing dangerous people everyday that were hell bent on your destruction. Even in her brief stint as Rescue, a companion to Tony's Iron Man during the period of years they had spent trying to revive the Decimated, she had come close to death more than a few times. Eventually, she had retired that identity, or as Tony liked to call it, her "super special superhero name", and dove full time into the role of 'mom'.

Morgan had been born on January 15th, 2019. Ironically, mere hours after Pepper had assured Tony that his dream that she was pregnant was false, she had come to find out that his premonition was correct. Being told she was pregnant was an interesting memory for Pepper. Her emotions had been on steroids. She had gone to the doctor after feeling a little too fatigued from a run, a run where a wizard (who she now knew as Dr. Strange) had appeared out of a hole in Central Park with Bruce Banner. Then, Tony had disappeared into a spaceship to god knew where, with little to no information on what was happening. Pepper had been hysterical, to say the least. Aliens had descended on New York City once again. Her soon to be husband had flown away. He might have been dead for all she knew, and she was carrying his child.

Later, the unthinkable started to happen. Pepper had watched as her assistant was reduced to a pile of ash, and held a woman on the street as she scattered in the wind. She had witnessed a plane crash into the side of a building, and dozens of cars ram into each other in the road, driverless. All the while, her and some select others had stood by, wanting to be useful but having no idea how, as their world fell to the ground.

When Pepper finally got a hold of reality, she did the first thing she thought of- 'head to the compound'. She arrived to find the front gates unmanned, and only a few others wandering around the grounds aimlessly. She didn't recognize any of them, most were janitorial staff or security personnel. Pepper holed herself up in the Avengers' private commons area and waited. For what, she didn't know. Some sort of answer?

Eventually, Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanoff, Thor, Bruce Banner, and Rhodey trudged into the room she was in, all looking disheveled. Pepper jumped up, hoping to see Tony behind them, but he wasn't there. Nor were a large chunk of the other Avengers, or the wizard and Peter Parker. Pepper practically flew over to Steve and grabbed his arm. No matter that she hadn't seen him in two years, what was in the past was in the past, what mattered was what was happening now. She frantically bombarded him with questions. What was happening, where had they been, where was Tony, why had people turned to dust, why were there aliens in New York again? Steve had looked at her with utter despair through her barrage, and Pepper almost felt bad, but she didn't have mind space for that. If anything, his expression just left her with more questions. Did Steve look upset because he had lost? Because the Avengers lost a fight? Lost? No. That wasn't possible.

Was it?

When Pepper ran out of inquiries, she looked past Steve who was still not talking, to the others in the room. They looked equally as depressed. But, standing in the middle of the sullen group was... a raccoon? Was that a raccoon? Standing up? Even more surprising, when she stared for just a bit longer, the raccoon looked up at her and asked, "What're you looking at blondie? Haven't ya ever seen a raccoon before?" Pepper's eyes bulged out of her head. It talked, too!

In time, Pepper learned about what would later be known as the Decimation, the purge of half the universe by Thanos. Steve told her that Thanos was a titan who had spent his life working towards the goal of 'balancing the universe'. No one knew where Thanos had gone, as he had teleported out of Wakanda using the Space Infinity Stone as soon as he had erased half the population of the universe, just by snapping. Bruce explained the Infinity Stones, cosmic forms that were the most powerful things in the world. He said that one of them, the Power Stone, could destroy an entire planet or person just by touching it, and that there were no restraints on events when you had the Time Stone to turn back the clock. He also told her Vision had possessed an Infinity Stone in his head, the Mind Stone. Natasha told Pepper who they knew was dead so far, showed her the list. The others that had come back to the compound did their best to tolerate all of her questions, but were off-put and discouraged every time one of them had to describe something that had happened. When Steve told her that Thanos had ripped the Mind Stone right out of Vision, Thor left the room. She then learned that Thor had come extremely close to killing Thanos before the snap, but fell short of his goal and was feeling extremely guilty. The others had told him that it wasn't his fault, that they would have assumed stabbing Thanos through the heart would have been enough too, but he was taking it hard. Pepper also learned who the Guardians of the Galaxy were, and that the humanoid raccoon sitting a few feet away from her on sofa was a part of that team. His name was Rocket. Like many of the Avengers, his best friend, Groot, had died and he didn't know the status of the rest of his teammates.

For the most part, the Avengers answered all of Pepper's questions, but there was one that none of them knew the answer to. Where was Tony? No one knew his location, and after the first few days of no Tony, or Peter, who had reportedly gone up in the Spaceship with him, Pepper started to break down. She was pregnant, living in a post-apocalyptic world, and her husband was missing. But, she knew that if Tony was able to get back to the compound, back to her, he would show up at some point. She consoled herself in knowing that he was in space, and space travel sometimes took awhile. All she could do was wait.

Another new face Pepper would get to know was Carol Danvers. The woman had shown up shortly after the Decimation had ended, claiming Fury's hyped up pager that Steve and Natasha had tracked down was a device that she gave to Fury in case of an emergency. She said it had called her to Earth, and that she had known Fury back in the 90s. No one knew whether or not to believe her, though the symbol on the pager did match the one on her uniform. She explained that she was known mostly as Captain Marvel, and demonstrated her powers for the Avengers. She possessed extraordinary abilities, being able to fly, having super strength, and being able to shoot photon blasts out of her hands and sometimes her entire body. After that demonstration, the Avengers decided to initiate Carol onto the team.

Sometime around six hours into the first day after the snap, Natasha took a Quinjet to Clint Barton's farmhouse, where he had been on house arrest for the past two years. Steve had offered to accompany her, but she told everyone she wanted to go by herself. Again, all the rest of them could do was wait.

The Avengers and Pepper bit their nails and kneaded their hands, sitting, standing, or pacing in anticipation of the results of Natasha's search. When Natasha got back, she walked through the doorway of the commons with no Clint, Laura, Lila, Cooper, or Nathaniel. Everyone's tense shoulders dropped. The Black Widow simply shook her head, dropped her eyes, and whispered, "No one was there." Her voice was steady, but her eyes were swollen, and she walked down the hallway, shutting the door to her quarters.

Besides sleeping or going to the bathroom, Pepper spent all her time in the commons. She did this because the airfield was right outside the floor to ceiling window panels, and she hoped that if Tony came down in a spaceship, he would land there, and she would see him arrive.

The next three years were a collection of stop-and-start memories for Pepper. She remembered Tony eventually coming back to her. It had taken a few weeks, but he arrived from the sky in the Benatar, the Guardians' old ship, half-dead, with the last remaining member of the Guardians of the Galaxy, a robotic woman named Nebula.

She remembered Clint Barton returning to the compound after six weeks of absence with a dark new look and depression in his eyes. She remembered the tearful reunion between him and the others.

She remembered being incapacitated by pregnancy in the first year after the Decimation while everyone else was formulating plans and fighting to bring back the fallen.

She remembered having her baby, a large eyed girl she and Tony named Morgan Petra. Tony insisted that Morgan's middle name be after Peter Parker, and even if pepper hadn't agreed, she wouldn't have pushed it.

They were constantly extremely tired as new parents. It was hard for Tony to be all hands on deck with Morgan while also pushing the rest of the Avengers and himself to do their duty to the world, though this did not take away from his complete adoration of his daughter. Because of this, Pepper did most of the diaper changes, the bottles, the late night rocking chair sessions. In the first few weeks of having a newborn, she and Tony would often wake Clint up if they were confused to ask him questions. 'Why wouldn't Morgan stop crying? What did she want?' Clint was the perfect person to ask, with already having been through the wringer of possessing a newborn three times with his own kids. Pepper felt bad at first, waking him up from the little sleep he got to start with, but Clint brushed off her guilt, saying that helping Tony and her with their baby helped fill the hole in his heart left by the deaths of his own children, though Morgan could never replace them.

That remark by Clint further fueled her and Tony's fury towards Thanos and what he had done. Pepper confessed to Tony that she felt like there was more she could be doing, more that she needed to be doing. She wanted to be like Tony, Steve, Natasha, Clint, Bruce, Thor, and all the others, striving to avenge the fallen. Tony took her comments to heart, realizing that with the Avengers cut down by half, and with plan after plan failing, they could use all the help they could get. It had been almost a year and a half since the Decimation and the Avengers weren't getting anywhere, they hadn't even found Thanos yet.

Pepper was ecstatic when Tony surprised her with her very own super suit. It was basically a purple version of the Iron Man suit, with the latest upgrades and some more feminine touches. As the suit assembled itself around her, Pepper realized what it meant. She was an Avenger now. Tony demonstrated how to shoot blasts out of the repulsors in her hands, and Pepper felt a twinge a guilt in her heart. No, it had been more like a stab. Then it was September of 2019, and Morgan was only eight months old. She was beginning to become less dependent on her mother and father, less than she used to be, anyways. Still, that didn't mean that Morgan could live without her parents. The worst possibilities had raced through Pepper's mind, multiple scenarios where her and Tony both died in battle and Morgan had to grow up without both parents. When she considered things like this though, she tried to see the flip side. If they didn't at least try, could they live with themselves? Would they be okay with their child growing up in a world ravaged by grief? Or would it be better if Morgan got to grow up with the world as it should be, despite both their deaths?

Pepper ultimately decided on the second option. She would do whatever it took for Morgan's sake, and especially for all the innocent people that didn't deserve death, that had crumbled to dust in seconds. Tony dubbed her superhero name 'Rescue'.

The next three and a half years were full to the brim with dozens of failed plans, so many foiled attempts. Pepper could remember everything that the Avengers had tried, and every moment of crushing disappointment when nothing ever worked.

But, eventually, the final moment came. Their final destination. The Avengers found Thanos and brought the fight back to him. They had learned from their mistakes, and instead of being spread out over multiple galaxies and planets, they gathered in one spot and were able to overwhelm Thanos. Multiple Avengers held Thanos down while Tony ripped the Infinity Gauntlet holding all the stones off of Thanos's hand. When he had it in his possession, he slid it on and was able to reverse the Decimation. The gauntlet was not made for a human, though, and Tony's arm was now irreversibly damaged. He wore an electric prosthetic arm similar to Bucky Barnes's, though it went around his arm instead of replacing it. At night, or when he was lounging, Tony would wear a splint. When he slept, his arm rested limply at his side.

Two years after the Decimation had been reversed, life was pretty much back to normal. It was now 2025, Morgan was six, and Tony was still as stubborn as before. The Stark family was living in the Avengers compound, as they had been since 2018, but had plans to move out soon. Pepper had been worried as to how the Avengers would react to having a toddler waddling around, but they all absolutely adored Morgan. Still, as the child grew, she'd need more space, more privacy. It would be easier to change the setting of her life while she was young. Morgan didn't seem too concerned with the move, other than looking for reassurance that he would still see her Uncle Clint, Uncle Bruce, Aunt Natasha, Uncle Thor and Uncle Steve regularly. Pepper assured her that she would. The Starks would still be living in New York, in a custom built home (rather, a mansion, currently under construction,) surrounded by forests and rivers. It was no more than a few minutes away from the compound, as Tony could never be far.

Tony and Pepper were currently on a date. They had enlisted Clint to bring Morgan along with him for his weekend visit to his farmhouse to play with Lila, Nathaniel and Cooper. He nearly exploded with joy when Pepper and Tony told her she would be visiting the Bartons' for a whole weekend, and a grin lit up her face as she frantically waved to her mom and dad through the window of the Quinjet when him and Clint took off on Friday.

This weekend was one of the rare moments that Pepper had alone with Tony. He had promised her that he would be completely present, yet there he was watching the news, waiting for catastrophe to strike. Pepper rolled onto her side on the bed, staring at Tony. She waited for him to notice, holding her gaze until he finally looked over at her.

"What?"

Pepper raised her eyebrow. "What do you mean, 'what'?" She gestured towards the widescreen. "You promised you wouldn't do this."

"I'm just checking-"

"On what? For what? Making sure the world's not coming to an end?"

"Yes!" Tony said defensively.

Pepper sighed. "I just want to be with you. I realize that you have duties as an Avenger, which is why I've allowed that," Pepper pointed at the phone resting on the marble of the bedside table, "to be in the room with us. You know that the Avengers would call you if anything was happening."

"I know." Tony huffed and absently rubbed his bad arm. "I just... it makes me nervous when I don't know what's happening. I woke up from a nightmare, I needed to make sure that it wasn't real."

Pepper sat up and crossed her legs. "What was the nightmare about?"

"I... I had a dream that..." Tony sucked in a breath and let it go slowly. "I had a dream that Morgan was kidnapped by terrorists and they were holding her for my money. She was so- She was so _scared_."

Pepper frowned and moved closer to him, wrapping her arms around his torso and resting her head on his chest. His arm came up around her shoulders. "Well, that hasn't happened. She's with Clint and Laura, too. You know they'll protect him."

Tony clutched her tighter and Pepper felt a slight tremor travel through his body. "In my dream, they killed Clint and his family. They took Morgan and it was my fault. It was all because of what they wanted from _me._" Pepper had no answer to that. It was a realistic, though unlikely, situation Tony was describing. She couldn't tell him that there was no possibility of that happening, because that wouldn't be true. Instead, Pepper just gripped Tony tighter. In truth, Pepper had experienced a dozen similar nightmares to what Tony had just described, and she knew that he had, too. She was surprised that Tony told her about this one, seeing as if he woke up startled, he usually just kept the cause to himself. It must have been a particularly terrifying dream. When Pepper whispered, "It's okay. We're okay," she said it for Tony, of course, but also for herself, seeking some form of reassurance.

After a few minutes, Tony jerked sideways to look at her. In a panicked and rushed tone, he started spouting an entire speech. "It's just not fair. To you, I mean. It's not fair to you. You've always been there for me, whatever I needed whenever I needed it, and you just keep getting dragged through the same crap over and over and over again. Nightmare, death, fear, nightmare, death, fear. I want to stop, for you, for Morgan, I want to stop. But I can't, not while the world still needs me, not while my friends are fighting battles that I should be, too. Not while there's still threats, threats that if I don't fight, might engulf our family one day, or take the lives of others. That's why I have to check the news, have to check my phone, because if I'm not there something might go wrong, someone might die and it would be my fault because I could have stopped it-"

"Tony, Tony, woah, just slow down, take a breath!" Pepper placed her hands solidly on his shoulders. "I get it, you want to stop Avenging for our sake, but you can't because you need to protect people. I already know this, and you've told me before, so where is this outburst coming from?"

Tony rubbed the back of his head and sighed. "I was trying to think of some way that I could retire without being restless all the time and I think I've found an option. I wanted to get your opinion. I can tell if it's crazy or not."

"Yes, okay, tell me." Pepper nodded.

"So," Tony started, "the bones of my idea is that each of the Avengers would take an apprentice and train them. To be us. That way, when we retire, we'll have an able team ready to go and the world will still have protection. Of a sort, anyways."

"Oh, um, okay!" Pepper nestled farther into the blankets of the bed. "I guess that's not a terrible idea. It's a bit radical though, don't you think?"

"Well, yes, but the more you consider it, the more sane it becomes. Think about it," Tony raised his hands in front of him, as if framing the future. "The Avengers are known across the universe. We beat Thanos. Aliens, they know it's not in their best interests to mess with us. But once the current team can't perform anymore, Earth will become a prime target, not to mention the crime by humans will probably ramp up. But, if aliens and humans knew that there was another team, it might soften the blows, at least a little bit."

"Hmm," Pepper put a couple of fingers to her lips. "And when you say, 'apprentices', what exactly do you mean by that?"

"Gifted individuals that could be enhanced with training," Tony explained. "They'd be younger than all of the Avengers, of course, because what's the point of having a new team if they won't last much longer than us?"

"Will you choose Peter? As your apprentice, I mean."

"No," Tony waved his hand. "Parker's got other things happening for him. And he's at MIT, so there's no way I'd ever pull him out of that." Pepper nodded in agreement.

"So you'll run this by Clint, Thor, Natasha, Bruce, and Steve? And if they support it then you're going to do it?"

"Yes, I suppose. You think it's a good idea?"

"I think it's great."

"Yes!" Tony exclaimed.

"Now, let's enjoy our weekend."

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Again, my first fanfic, so sorry that it's a little rough! I hope you guys enjoyed it! I plan on posting the next chapter next Sunday. Have an awesome day/night!


	2. 2Chapter2

Hey guys! Here's the next chapter. I appreciate the follows and favorite! I also appreciate reviews, praises or constructive criticisms. If you have any suggestions, just comment! Hope you enjoy.

Tony rubbed his hands together. His idea had passed the first test: Pepper. Now, the fate of his proposal lied with the Avengers. He was pretty confident that most of them would be on board with taking apprentices, with how obsessed they were with protecting the world. But Tony honestly couldn't predict what they would decide, and he would ever find out unless he could get them to sit down and actually listen to him.

Tony was standing in front of the television in the commons with couches parallel to him. At least Steve was in one of the armchairs to Tony's right, even if he was reading a novel. Natasha was sitting at one of the stools in the kitchen, entertained, watching as Clint and Thor argued animatedly. Bruce, rifling through the cabinets, tried to break into the argument but didn't have any luck.

"Thor, the blueberry pop tarts," Clint held up a box of pop tarts on his flat palm and waved them in Thor's face, "are _mine_. They are _my_ favorite. The Strawberry pop tarts," Clint used his other hand to hoist another poptart box, "are your favorite."

"But I wanted a blueberry." Thor said.

"The-" Bruce tried to say.

"But," Clint flipped the first box upside down, "There was only one left. And you ate it and put the box back in the cabinet."

Thor shrugged and Clint sighed, dropping one box and putting his hand to his face. "You don't eat the last of another man's poptarts!"

"The more pressing matter," Bruce interjected, "is that we're putting empty food cartridges back in the cabinet." Bruce pulled out a plastic bag full of nothing and a box that was supposed to have Keurig cups in it. "Also, I know you guys love coffee but seriously, I like tea, so try to make the cabinet space."

Clint continued without pause. "This is why I keep most of my food in my room."

Natasha smirked at him. "Yeah, you must love eating a slice of pizza covered in dust." It was no secret that the archer's room was nowhere near the cleanest.

"I'm busy with a lot of stuff, cleaning is not a priority!" Clint defended.

"Than what is?" Bruce asked.

Natasha didn't miss a beat. "Trying to get a life."

Clint gasped in mock outrage while Steve, without looking up from his book, mumbled, "Ooo, burn."

"What is this, pick on Clint day?" Clint threw his hands up. "I just wanted _my _pop-tarts to be _my _pop-tarts!"

"Hey, children!" Tony snapped his fingers at the group in the kitchen. "Would ya sit down? I have an announcement."

"Wow, an announcement. Are you finally retiring, Stark?" Thor quipped, making his way over to the commons and standing behind the couch across from Tony, arms crossed.

"No, Thor, not exactly, I'm not that old."

Clint snorted, flopping down onto the loveseat on Tony's left. "Those gray hairs would beg to differ."

"I could say the same about you, Barton." Tony said.

"How dare you, I don't have gray hairs!"

Natasha patted Clint on the shoulder as she sat down next to him. "Stop now Clint. That's not a battle you want to fight." Clint gaped at her, not managing to get a full sentence out. He seemed astonished that she, too, thought he had gray hair.

"I'm not here to retire," Tony started as Bruce sat down on the couch in front of Thor. "God knows I've tried. But I did have an idea to make the transition easier when that time does come, when we all retire."

"From being Avengers?" Steve asked, setting down his book on a glass side table.

"Yes. The world needs us. Or people like us. The problem is that we can't keep going forever, we're getting older and older everyday and our bodies won't be able to keep up soon." Tony glanced in front of him and then to the side. "With the exception of Thor and Cap. I suppose you two still have years left, but you can't want to do this forever! Thor, you have a kingdom, and Steve, I know you want the quiet civilian life at some point." Both mens' brows drew together. "I have Morgan and Pepper, Clint and Natasha have Laura and the kids, and Bruce…" Tony trailed off, not sure what to say. Before he could recover, Bruce spoke for him.

"And I have no one." Bruce smiled, though there was a sad tint to it. "But I'd like to have someone." He added.

"You'll always have us, you know that." Natasha said, and this time Bruce's mouth ticked upwards a bit.

"Alright Tony," Steve turned to him, somber, "we get the point, so what's the solution you had in mind?"

Tony drew in a breath and clapped his hands together. "We choose apprentices and train them to do what we do!"

Thor, Steve, and Bruce responded with a unanimous "What?".

Clint exclaimed, "You're kidding right? You're kidding." Natasha remained silent.

"Wait, wait, wait, just hear me out," Tony raised his palms flat in front of him, "When we retire, if we trained a group of people to be Avengers, we'd be leaving the world in capable hands, hands that we trust!"

"And why do we get to judge who the new Avengers would be?" Steve asked.

"Because we've been doing this job for years, and if you ask me, we've done pretty damn good!"

"Who in their right mind would accept this?" Clint said.

"I'm sure there's many people who would love to be an Avenger, would love to help the world like that!" Tony argued.

"But this life, Tony, it's all consuming!" Nat retorted. "We've all almost died, multiple times. You can't even use your right arm anymore!" Tony flexed the electric contraption on his arm instinctively. "There's no way anyone new that we could bring in would understand that taking this job means it's very difficult to have any sort of life. Or family." She added. "You see horrible things, you do horrible things. Should we really be willing to purposely set new people up for that? Also, it begs the question, are any of us in the right mental state to decide who gets to defend the universe?"

"But which is better, Natasha? Leaving the Earth with no defendants or training new ones?" Tony fired. "There needs to be people like us. Everything with Thanos happened-"

"Stark," Thor warned, and Steve ducked his head.

"No, okay, no! I know none of us like hearing about Thanos, and I don't like talking about him, but I need to bring him up! Seven years ago we did not- could not- stop him and he killed so many people. Five years later we beat him. We almost died, but we beat him." Tony bit down hard on his lip, trying to keep the flood of memories down. "There will always be monsters like Thanos. Next time one comes around, what if we aren't there to stop it? It's been two years now, and I don't want to think about those kind of things, but it's time we start. I want to stop, but I'm never going to be able to if I can't trust that others are going to be there to protect our world."

Everyone's heads dipped. After a moment, Clint said, "You know guys, Tony's actually making some sense. I think I… I think I… um… I agree with him. This could work."

Tony put a hand over his heart. "My god, Legolas! You agree with me!"

Clint sat back, crossing his arms. "One time deal, Tin Can."

"So, I've got Clint's vote. Who else?" Tony looked around at the rest of his team.

Bruce shifted in his seat. "Yeah, okay. I was a little shocked at first, but I guess it's kind of a good idea."

Thor was next. "I shall find someone worthy to replace me."

"I don't know about this." Steve said, "But I'm willing to try." Tony nodded his head towards his friend.

They all looked toward Natasha and she stared back, face impassive. "Nat?" Clint asked, and she looked at him. For about 10 seconds, they stared at each other. Tony had always envied the fact that it seemed they could have telepathic conversations, though he would never admit that. Finally, she said, "I'm in."

"Sweet!" Tony clasped his hands. "We're good to go."

"So… what do we do now?" Asked Bruce. "We each find a protégée? Should they share our same qualities? Where do we even start?"

Tony clasped his hands. "They can be like you or total opposite, it doesn't matter. All that matters is that you think they would be a good Avenger. As for looking for these people, Friday can find you anything you need about anyone, to an extent. Just look for gifted individuals. Happy searching!"

"What do you plan to do, Thor?" Natasha asked, a small smile on her face.

"I suppose my goal will be to find someone who can wield Mjolnir. Then I will know that they are worthy." Their shrugged, as if that would be extremely simple.

"And how will you find someone who can do that?"

"Hm. I will leave the hammer in a public place and see if anyone can pick it up. Or maybe I will hold auditions, of a sort." Thor put a finger thoughtfully to the corner of his mouth.

"Thor, buddy, that might draw some unwanted attention." Steve chuckled, returning to his book. The rest of the group howled with laughter.

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Natasha hated this. Hated it. It had been three days since Tony's proposal and she couldn't bring herself to do any research on potential apprentices. It all felt a little to Red Room-esque to her, bringing in people and training them to be glorified assassins, basically. She didn't want to train an apprentice. She was worried that they could end up too much like her and the last thing the world needed, in her opinion, was another Black Widow.

Her teammates had been cooped up in their rooms for the last three days, excited to get started finding the new 'thems'. Natasha had barely seen any of them in days. Meanwhile, she had been prowling the compound, stalking through every part of the facility. Natasha knew she was being a coward, running from the thing she agreed to do, but frankly she didn't care. She didn't want to ask the others if she could be exempt from this, but every time Nat thought about researching someone to train, she received a rush of anxiety. It was a strange, weird feeling she didn't like. Of course she got scared every once in a while, but not like what she was experiencing now. She was even having nightmares about messing some kid up with her influence.

Her anxiety didn't sprout from just the idea of training a kid, though. She could at least admit that to her teammates, but the fear that these new kids would break up her team was something she could never tell them. Natasha wasn't a cold person by any means, she cared a tremendous amount about those who were close to her, but expressing those feelings was not her area of expertise. Still, her teammates knew that she loved them.

Of course, Natasha was sure that adding new Avengers would in no way lessen the original's bond, but she couldn't help worrying. They had such an excellent rhythm going! To add another person, much less six, would likely make that rythym disfuntionate. She finally had something good in her life, a family, and she couldn't risk losing them like she had seven years ago.

Natasha growled, snatching the towel she had set on a chair and pulled herself out of the pool. She flipped her hair up into a wet bun and used the fluffy white towel to wipe the water beads off her skin. Walking out of the pool room, she started to sprint. She had so much steam built up inside her, she just needed to go. Though her teammates weren't there to see her run, she wondered if anyone else was watching her. The rooms she was running through all had giant floor to ceiling windows on at least one wall. Natasha couldn't understand why Stark, a man who had been attacked so many times, would choose to be so… exposed.

After a few minutes, Natasha halted. She had reached the residential part of the compound and the hallway containing her, Clint, and Steve's rooms stretched in front of her. She started walking and passed her room, stopping for a millisecond in front of the door. Natasha knew she should enter her room, open her laptop and start searching for apprentices, but continued down the hallway when her heart began to race at the thought. Her hair fell out of the sloppy bun she had put up and the wet red with blonde tips stuck to her neck. Her hair, shoulder length two years ago, had now grown below her ribs and Natasha was contemplating cutting it shorter again. It mostly just got in the way. She fondled a strand, almost yanking it out when someone called her name. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up for a millisecond before she realized it was Clint's voice.

"Natasha- Tasha!" He yelled as she passed the door to his room.

Natasha backtracked and grabbed the doorframe, leaning back. "Yeah?"

"Come in, I want to show you something." Natasha nodded and backed up a little further. Strolling into Clint's room, she cringed. Pizza boxes were lining the perimeter of the walls and it looked like the floor hadn't been vacuumed in a week. On the far wall, there was a target with seven different arrows stuck to the center and another on the ceiling. Natasha didn't know how he had gotten a target to stick up there, and she didn't want to find out. Farther into the room, on the floor, lay a ceiling panel. Looking up, she saw the open square into the vents and a rope hanging down from the hole. Clint's room was almost two stories tall, so he needed it to climb up.

Stepping around paper plates and piles of clothes, Natasha made her way to the middle of the room where Clint was sitting in a plush rolling chair. He was surrounded by seven hovering, see-through screens, displaying pictures, videos, and lines of script. On the floor, he had dozens of sheets filled with scribbled notes.

"You really need to clean your room." Natasha said, pushing some of the papers out of the way so she could stand in the screen circle.

"I will." Clint said. "Eventually."

"Yeah, okay." Natasha said skeptically. She placed her arm on Clint's shoulder and leaned against him. "What'd you want me to see?"

"Well," Clint turned towards her and grinned. "I think I've found my apprentice!"

"Already?" Natasha was startled. "Has it even been long enough for you to consider all the options?"

"I've looked at tons of people already, Natasha. It's been three days, and you know me," Clint stated, "I'm a regular insomniac."

Nat frowned. "You don't feel like you're rushing into this?"

"Just let me tell you about her, and you'll understand!" Clint begged. "It's like she was born for this!" He clasped his hands comically in a prayer pose.

Natasha rolled her eyes. "Fine, Hawkeye. Show me."

Clint bounced up and swiped all six of the screens in front of Natasha and him, arranging them in a two by four grid.

"This one," Clint said, pointing to the top left screen, "has basic information about her. Her name is Alexandra Avrie. She's competed in a ton of different sports and she's a black belt in various types of martial arts." Clint moved on to the next screen. "Her main focus seems to be archery, though. This is a video of her from the 2024 Olympics."

"I remember this girl," Natasha said as she watched the clip. "She broke all of those records in archery." Natasha watched Alexandra as she fired off six arrows in thirty seconds at seventy meters distance. They all hit the dead center of the target.

"Yeah, Youngest archer to win a gold, most gold medals in one event, most gold medals in archery overall," Clint ticked off her broken records on his fingers. "And get this: she can speak six different languages fluently."

"Which ones?" Natasha asked.

"Swahili, Russian, Arabic, French, Spanish, and Mandarin."

Natasha nodded. "I will admit, that's impressive."

"Also, she's already graduated high school and she was valedictorian. She's sent applications to a ton of Ivy League colleges and she's already been accepted by Princeton!" Clint flopped onto his chair, rolling back a bit. He laughed. "I mean, she's perfect!"

Natasha agreed. This girl seemed completely capable. She smiled with Clint until a realization shocked her.

"Wait, Clint," Natasha inquired, "if she's already graduated high school, but hasn't gone to college yet… how old is she?" Her eyes narrowed.

Clint sobered up and rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, about that… she graduated high school early." Clint inhaled bracing himself for what he knew Natasha would hate. "She's sixteen years old."

"Clint!" Natasha exclaimed. "Are you kidding? She's a minor, you can't-"

"But Nat, this girl is older than sixteen!" Clint insisted.

"What? What do you mean?" Natasha yelled.

"In her mind!" Clint tapped his temple. "Anyways, she blipped. She's supposed to be twenty one."

"That's not an excuse!" Natasha grabbed her head. "She lost five years, she's still a child!"

"I've been researching for three days straight, and I've not found anyone more suited to this role than her! I've looked at twenty-five and thirty year-olds who could never do what she's done!" Clint stopped and his voice softened. "Look Nat, I know you don't like that she's so young, but I'm really confident that she's the right person."

Natasha looked away. "You really think so?"

"I do." Clint nodded.

"Well, I suppose I don't have to agree. It's not my choice."

Her and Clint spent a moment in silence before he asked, "Have you started looking for your apprentice yet?"

"No. I haven't gotten to it." Natasha monotoned.

Clint crossed his legs in his chair and gave her a skeptical look. "Haven't gotten to it, or been avoiding it?" When she didn't answer, he said, "Nat, if you don't want to do this apprentice thing, you can back out. The team'll understand."

"No, I'm not backing out." Natasha responded fiercely. "I can do this. It's not my favorite idea, but I can do it." She paused. "It's a smart idea, I'll give Stark that. Having a new response team when the time comes.I just don't want to turn a kid into me." Saying it out loud made Natasha shiver a little bit, cold tendrils of anxiety creeping up her body.

"And what's so bad about you?" Clint asked, walking over to her. "You're amazing, Tasha. You'll train a great Avenger. If they turn out like you, that would- in no way- be a bad thing."

Natasha rolled her eyes.

"It's all going to be fine." Clint assured her. After a moment he looked past Natasha and decided, "I'm going to call her. Alexandra. I'm going to call her."

"Alright." Natasha sighed. "Good luck, I guess. You going to tell anyone else, or…"

"Nah," Clint said with a wave of his hand. "They'll get a surprise."

"Right, cause they all love those." Natasha scoffed playfully.

"Get out of here," Clint chuckled and Natasha strolled out of his room. Before she was out the door, she called over her shoulder, "If you don't get this room cleaned up soon, I'm staging an intervention!" She could hear Clint laughing behind her.

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Well, there's the next chapter, hope you enjoyed! Have an awesome day/night!


	3. 3Chapter3

Enjoy the next chapter of Prodigious! Thank you to everyone who's favorites and followed so far, I have this story mapped out so I should be updating every Sunday. Again, I appreciate comments and constructive criticisms alike.

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Clint Barton scanned the quiet neighborhood and flicked his hearing aids to make sure they were working. He could make out the sounds of birds chirping high up in the trees and leaves scattering amidst the dirt, but not much else. Clint closed the door to his Mercedes and it slammed, the sound echoing. He flinched a bit at the large noise in the vacant forest and scoffed. It had already been bad enough driving down the gravel road with a car in the middle of the woods. He had never been a person for Montana. He and Natasha had once had a mission in the rural state, and he remembered what he was experiencing now- the suffocating absence of human noise. Their target had been on the run and Natasha had killed the man in the middle of the forest. His scream had split Clint's eardrums after the only things he had heard the entire mission were Nat's voice and breath. Hollywood movies had long been correct on one aspect of the deep forest- when you are amidst just the animals and trees, there is no one there to hear you scream.

Clint rolled his shoulders, huffed, and continued to analyze his surroundings. _Few cars, big houses, lots of trees. Sloping lawns, long driveways. Sunlight, but not much, trees blocking majority. Houses far apart, look empty, owners at work? Guess I won't be needing my elaborate disguise. _Clint grabbed the Yankees cap off his head, spun it around his finger, and pushed his sunglasses up into his dark blond hair. _No pets around, dead end gravel road, one way out. Couple of miles away from main haighway. Secluded. _Something shuffled behind Clint. _Noise. _He whipped around, one hand automatically balling into a fist while the other jumped inside the black leather jacket he was wearing, reaching for the dagger concealed there. He widened his stance, ready to kick if necessary.

Wide brown eyes stared up at him. It was a stag. The deer's eyes flicked to the hand inside Clint's jacket. Clint relaxed his posture and slowly brought flat palms in front of him to indicate that he meant no harm. "Hey, buddy." The stag took a step backward. "Wait, no no, it's okay. I'm not gonna hurt ya. Mighta looked like it, but it's just… occupational hazard, ya know?" The stag blinked. "Of course you don't know." Clint chuckled. "You're a deer. Man, I forgot how handsome you guys are!" While living near New York City had its perks, like never being far from a pizzeria, it was rare, if not impossible that you would see a stag. The animal had a glistening tan coat, enveloped by one of the beams of light streaming through the trees. His antlers were giant, shining and white, sitting on top of the stag's head like trophies. And the eyes, the eyes were gleaming, deep, pools of chocolate that didn't seem to have a bottom. This was an animal that he probably would have been proud to shoot on one of his hunting trips with Cooper, but he couldn't even imagine that now. The deer just looked so… innocent, full of life and youth. Clint cautiously reached into the pocket of his jeans, and the stag jerked a bit. "Hey, it's okay, just hold on a sec." Clint pulled out a ziplock full of peanuts that he had been snacking on through the car ride. It had taken him two days to get to Montana. Piloting the Quinjet would have been much faster, but honestly, Clint needed had needed just a little time away from his teammates. They loved each other like brothers and sisters, but the bickering could get intense, and he was usually in the thick of it.

Clint cracked open the peanut shell, but that scared the stag. It bounded away, but only across the road and behind an oak. He was still peeking out at Clint from behind the bark. "Hey now, you're okay. I've got some food for you." Clint tossed the peanuts halfway between him and the stag. The stag stared at the peanuts for a moment, then cautiously took a few steps forward, trying to gouge the level of danger. Clint painstakingly lowered to the ground and sat down. "No harm." He nodded at the stag. Finally, he seemed to get that Clint wasn't going to hurt him and trotted forward to eat the peanuts. He gobbled them up quickly and Clint smiled. He cracked a few more shells and this time the stag came to him and ate the peanuts right out of his hand. Now, Clint was looking up at the animal. He fed him a few more peanuts before the stag seemed to lose interest and bounded away. Clint watched it disappear into the trees and grinned. "Wow." He lamented to himself, then glanced around and wondered if anyone was watching him through the windows of the houses. He hated the paranoia, but he could only escape it for one short moment at a time. All the same, it was comforting, no matter how long or short that moment was.

Clint pushed the sunglasses back onto his eyes and threw the cap over his head. He took out a piece of paper from the other pocket in his jeans and glanced at the address on it. 2149 Kindle Rd. Well, he was on Kindle rd., so he swiveled on one foot until he found the right number house. He had parked his car right in front of it. Clint strolled casually toward the house, like he wasn't some creep standing in the middle of the road and trekked up the paved driveway. He studied the house as he went. The lawn was manicured, a lush green, and near the house, there were bowling ball-sized stones marking off a section of soil filled with daisies and peonies. On the porch sat a white wood swing with daisy braids wrapped around the side posts and top beam holding up the swing. The house was large, three stories probably. The exterior was gray and pale blue and there were many windows, but they all had curtains drawn and the both doors to the garage were closed. Clint doubted the girl he was looking for would be home, but he figured he'd try anyways. _God, if she isn't here, I may have to move on to someone else. She already blocked my number. I've never met someone so goddamn insistent on not answering the phone. _Clint pursed his lips as he climbed the steps to the porch. _Well, except maybe Tony._

Stepping under the awning, he knocked on the dark wood door. A blue jay landed on the daisy swing and looked at him. "What?" The bird continued to stare. "Are you trying to tell me no one is home?" Clint was seeing no motion or change of light behind the curtains of the large front windows, and after a moment he turned to leave, but the door suddenly cracked open. "Hello?" A voice said from inside the house.

"Uh… hi?" Clint asked. He couldn't even see the person talking to him, because the door was only open a few inches, just a sliver. "Is Alexandra Avrie home?"

"Why? What do you want?" The person replied.

Clint raised his eyebrow. "To talk to her."

"About what?"

Clint frowned. "Is she home, or not? I can come back later."

There was a pause. "Yes, I'm her. I'm Alexandra. Who are you?" The door still didn't open any farther.

"Do you wanna open the door, or…" Clint peeked at her through the sliver and found a pale green eye narrowed at him.

"Actually, no. Who. Are. You?" The girl- Alexandra- asked more forcefully.

Clint started to laugh despite her serious tone. She wouldn't even open the door more than an inch, much less answer her phone! "You know," Clint remarked, still chuckling. "You are a very difficult person to get in touch with, Ms. Avrie." He snatched the cap off of his head and hung the sunglasses blocking his face on his shirt, waiting for her to realize who he was. The one eye he could see widened significantly, and the door to the house swung open.

Alexandra stood there, still gripping the door handle. Her dark blond hair cascaded in waves down her back and shoulders, lighting up golden when the sun hit it. "Oh my god. You're Clint Barton." Alexandra looked astonished. Her mouth formed a little o, and she stood in the doorway squinting and unsquinting her eyes, he guessed making sure that it was really him. After a moment she repeated, "You're Clint Barton."

"Yup. Can I talk to you?"

Alexandra nodded. "Oh… uh uh… uh huh…" It appeared to Clint that she might have been in shock, so he pointed inside the house. "Do you wanna talk inside, or out here, it doesn't really matter to me."

She snapped up, rigid, like an electric shock went through her. "Oh, yes, inside, you can come in." She stepped sideways and Clint walked through the door and into the foyer. "Sorry, people don't show up at my house very much in the middle of the day, and it's pretty rural out here, so I get suspicious. I also wasn't expecting an Avenger to show up." She grinned, practically bouncing in excitement. Clint turned to her and grinned back. "Hmm, maybe you would have been if someone wouldn't have declined my phone calls and then blocked my number."

Alexandra grimaced. "That was you? That was actually you?"

"Uh huh. I tried to call you about eight times, I think."

"I'm so sorry!" She exclaimed. "You know I'm an Olympic archer, right? I won some awards and broke some records and stuff," she waved her hand, "so some people think it's super funny to prank call me. They tell me they're Clint Barton and that they want me to join the Avengers." She rolled her eyes. "It's ridiculous."

"You get a lot of these calls?"

"Yeah. So you see, I thought you were just a prank caller."

"That makes sense."

"Yeah." She blushed and pulled the pajama shorts she was wearing down her legs and straightened her t shirt. Clint guessed she was embarrassed about not being prepared for visitors. "Um... could you stay here for just a second? I need to do something."

"Yeah, that's fine." A second after his confirmation she raced sideways into what he presumed was the living room. He couldn't see her, but could hear the sounds of things being shuffled around. He presumed she was cleaning the space up. Meanwhile, Clint took to inspecting the interior of the house. There was a wide hallway in front of him, leading to the kitchen. Forward and left, there was a large opening to the living room, and beyond that another opening to a room he couldn't see. On the right there was a staircase leading to the second floor and another, narrower, hallway going farther right. To bedrooms, maybe? Everything was colored white, light gray, and pale blue, and there was an abundance of natural light spilling in from various windows. Above Clint, there was even a large skylight. He watched as two birds flew above it and smiled.

A half minute later, Alexandra reappeared. "Mr. Barton, before you get any farther into the house I should warn you, I have a really nasty strain of flu right now, so if you don't want to get sick you should probably leave."

"I'll be fine, my immune system has always been pretty strong. And please, Clint is fine."

"Oh, okay… um, Clint." She smiled a little. "You can call me Alex. Do you want to talk in the living room?"

"Yes, that would be great." He responded.

"Alright, then just follow me." She turned and waved for him to follow. They padded across the dark oak floor, steps echoing, and entered the living room. A long gray couch was taking up two walls of the room, with dark side tables at the ends. They had delicate looking glass based lamps on them. Behind the couch, the walls were taken up by large windows. A large Persian rug covered the majority of the floor, and in the corner a large tv was mounted on the wall. There was a movie paused on it.

"So, _Love, Actually_?" Clint asked as he settled onto the couch.

Alex bounced delicately onto the corner cushion. "Yup. It's my favorite movie. You must like it, too?"

"How'd you get that? I could hate it."

"Well," she smiled, "I'm gonna go with you probably enjoy it, as you were able to recognize it from one still. And, this isn't even one of the important parts."

Clint leaned back into the couch. "That's true. But I don't particularly like _Love, Actually. _I have a friend who loves it and watches it a lot, so I watch it with them."

"Who's the friend? Captain America?" Alex laughed, a light, tinkling sound.

Clint grinned. "Nah, her name's Laura."

"It sounds like Laura and I could be friends." Alex smiled, and they shifted in their seats and were silent. After a moment, Alex asked, "So, um, Clint, I don't mean to be rude or anything, but why are you here? There must be a reason you came all the way to Montana."

Clint was quiet for a couple of seconds. "There is, but, to be honest, I don't really know where to start with why I'm here, so let's just talk about you first." She nodded. "First of all, you mentioned that you 'won some awards and broke some records and stuff'."Clint made quotes with his fingers, referencing their earlier conversation. "The awards were seven gold medals at the Olympics in one event, correct?" Alex nodded again. "And the records were most gold medals in one event, most gold medals in archery overall, and youngest Olympic archer to win a gold?" She nodded once more. "And you shoot recurve?"

"Yes."

"That's incredible!" Clint exclaimed. "You're sixteen, you already have one more gold medal than the previous record holder, and I took him years to get all of his!"

She shrugged. "Yeah, I work really hard in archery, and I've always been gifted with it, anyways."

"Do you plan on going again?"

"To the Olympics? Yes, if I can."

"And I understand you're not in school right now? That you already graduated high school?"

"Yeah. I've sent applications to different colleges, and I'm waiting to hear back from most of them. My younger brother Peter is in high school now, and my cousin is working, so that's why I'm here. I'm in the waiting period for acceptance letters."

Clint smiled. "Can I ask which colleges?"

"Um, Harvard, Princeton, Duke, Brown, Georgetown, among others. I've received an acceptance letter from Princeton so far, but none of the others yet." She dipped her head a little while listing off the universities.

"That's great. You don't have to be embarrassed about it."

"I know, it's just," she sighed. "Usually when I tell people I've sent resumes to all these Ivy League schools, they immediately think that I must be super stuck up."

"What that tells me is that you must be very smart."

"Yeah, well," she scratched the back of her head and looked towards the ceiling. "That means they think that I think I must be better than them. And that's a whole other problem. Because I'm not! I'm really not." She frowned.

"Luckily for you then, I'm not as close minded as those other people." Clint remarked. Alex looked at him and smiled timidly. "I know you can also speak six different languages? Would you remind me what those are?"

She used her fingers to count the different dialects. "Let's see… French, Spanish, Mandarin, Swahili, Russian, Arabic, and I'm almost fluent in Italian."

"So, really seven languages then. Any particular reason why you learned them? It can't be easy, trying to remember seven different languages." Clint wouldn't show it, but he was impressed. Very.

Alex shrugged. "I guess it's just fun. I also want to travel someday, so I figured learning some of the main languages would be helpful. Plus, once you learn one language, it's a lot easier to learn the next. Like, French and Spanish have lots of similar words and rules, so once I learned Spanish, French came pretty easily."

"That's awesome. Now, I understand you've competed in many different sports other than Archery?"

She paused for a second, coughed, and then answered. "Yes… I've been in basketball, lacrosse, karate, um, jujutsu, and… soccer, and..." Alex stopped and wiped her forehead. "And um… um…" Clint noticed that Alex was now sweating and shifting in her seat uncomfortably. When she squeezed her eyes shut and placed her hand on her forehead, Clint jumped up but didn't move forward. "Hey, are you okay? Is something wrong?"

Alex groaned and said breathlessly, "Yeah, just… excuse me." She then jumped up suddenly and bolted down the hall. Clint wobbled in disagreement for a split second, trying to decide between staying put or going after her. He chose the latter.

Clint took off at a sprint down the spacey hallway she had ran to and then down the smaller hallway he saw her foot disappear around. He turned the corner just in time to see her run into a room, and as he got closer he could see it was a bathroom. At this, Clint skidded to a halt again. Should he follow her into the bathroom? That might be wrong.

However, Clint's mind was made up for him when he heard the sounds of gagging. He whipped into a large bathroom with a marble floor, white toilet, a huge bathtub with jets, and a glass shower the size of a room. The granite countertops gleamed in sunlight streaming in from another skylight. Clint had to stop and stare for a second. _This house is unbelievable. Her aunt must be loaded._

He snapped back into reality as Alex gagged again, and Clint reached the toilet that she was leaning over just in time to catch her golden hair as she threw up. The vomiting went on for at least a minute. She would throw up and then stop and lean back, like she might be done, only to throw her head over the toilet again. The entire time, Clint patted and rubbed her back awkwardly. He had done this with his own kids, but never a stranger. "Just get it all out. You're fine, it's okay."

Finally, she leaned back a little and reached up to flushed the toilet. Next, she pointed to the second drawer down below the granite sink. "Hair ties," she mumbled, and Clint retrieved one from the drawer and handed it to her. She sank down to the freezing floor from where she was on her knees and tied her hair up into a sloppy bun. Staring at the wall, she whispered, "This is so embarrassing."

"Yeah, well, I've seen and done more embarrassing things. I'm an Avenger and I've been a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, so nothing makes me sheepish anymore." Clint sighed and Alex snorted a bit at that, then coughed and grabbed a wad of tissues to wipe her mouth with. She pulled herself up off the floor, finally looking back at him. "Told you my flu was nasty." She blew a raspberry with her lips. "Again, Mr. Barton-"

"Clint." He corrected.

"Yes, Clint, right." She smiled. "Again, Clint, I don't mean to be rude, but you're asking me all these questions that you obviously know the answers to. You've done research on me. So why are you here?"

Clint opened his mouth, then closed it, then opened it again. "There's no way to sugarcoat or lead into this, so I'm just going to say it. The world needs the Avengers, or a group like us to protect it. That's fine for now, but unfortunately Captain America and Iron Man and Hulk and Black Widow and Thor and I won't be around forever. We had the idea to train a new team, a team to replace us when the time comes, and we're each choosing an apprentice. I'd like you to be mine."

Alex froze and stared at him. "You want… you want me to… to be an Avenger?" Clint nodded and she leaned back on the counter. "Wow. Wowww."

"It's an enormous decision, I know, so you take whatever time you need to decide. Got any initial thoughts?"

She shrugged. "Um… just a bit shocked, I think." She drew in a breath. "You still want me after what you just saw?"

Clint nodded. "Yeah, whatever. Everyone gets sick."

"Uh huh," Alex's eyes suddenly focused and the corners of her mouth dipped a bit. "everyone gets sick. Avengers are supposed to be more than… than… everyone! _Everyone _gets sick." Alex paced across the bathroom and waved her hands. "I'm just a human, a teenage girl!"

Clint arched his eyebrow. "Yeah, and I'm just human, fighting with a bow and arrows. I don't have superpowers."

"Except for years of training as an assassin, you mean!" Alex scoffed. "I don't have that. I'm… I'm very weak by avengers standards!"

"I think you're strong."

"Why? Because I won some gold medals? You don't even know me! You don't know how strong I am."

Clint huffed. He really didn't want to bring this up. "I can tell that you're definitely not weak. Your parents died four years ago." At that she stiffened, and Clint felt a twinge of guilt for using it in his defense but continued nonetheless. "You were twelve. You could have easily folded in on yourself, but you didn't, you kept accomplishing things. You went to the Olympics and broke a shit ton of records! You know seven languages! You were valedictorian two years before you were supposed to graduate! To do that stuff, you can't be weak. You have to push your limits and blow past everyone else's, and that's what you did. So you're right, I don't know you, but I know you well enough on paper to be sure that you are strong."

She stared him down. "How can you be sure you're making the right choice with me?"

"I can't."

"That's risky."

Clint shoved his hands into his pockets and retorted, "When is anything I do ever not risky?"

"Touché." Alex said this playfully, but still didn't drop the steel hard defense in her eyes.

"Look," Clint sighed, slightly exasperated, "I can't be positive that you will work as an Avenger. But I have to take the chance anyways. Human beings aren't like clothes that you can buy, try on, and return. I had to pick someone to go all in with, and I chose you, but it wasn't random. I did tons of research beforehand. That research combined with the good feeling I have… it makes me confident that you'll be an excellent addition to the team."

She was silent for a moment before her shoulders dropped slightly. "What if I'm not good enough?"

"Then I'll help you to be good enough, if that's what you want."

"What if I _can't_ be good enough?"

"C'mon, all you- or anyone- can do is try."

"And what makes you think I have the ability to kill? To take life?" Alex stared at him defiantly, voice biting with every word of the question. She gripped the handle of the shower door next to her so hard that her knuckles turned white. Clint's mind went blank. How was he supposed to answer something like that? He hadn't been prepared for that mature of an inquisition, most of the teenagers he had met had minds occupied by celebrities, sports, and fashion. "I… I… I can't answer that. I'd have to know you better. But you know yourself, so if you think that you wouldn't be able to handle killing, turn down my offer now." Clint grimaced. "It's horrible, but that's part of being an Avenger."

Alex didn't release her hold on the shower handle, using her free hand to thoughtfully brush her bottom lip. Her already woeful eyes grew sadder as she said, "Is it bad that I believe I could do that? Just, you're killing criminals, and I mean, isn't it better if they're not in the world? Is that an evil thing to say?"

"No," Clint replied. "That's what I think, too. That's how I justify it. But really, it's not something to take lightly. Watching someone die by your hand, it's an emotional and very hard thing, no matter how malicious the person may be."

"Yes." Alex nodded and released her grip. "I'll take that into account when I consider your offer."

"Okay. Again, take as much time as you need. Do you have any more questions?"

"Yes, a few. Where would I be living?"

"At the Avengers Compound. It's in upstate New York."

"And I'd be what, exactly? An apprentice, in training?"

"Yes. The others and I would train you, and you wouldn't be put into combat or on field missions until we are absolutely sure you're ready. There would still be some danger, of course, we are the Avengers after all, but we'd do our best to keep you safe until you advance onto the current or future team."

"That sounds good. Would you be announcing that you're taking apprentices to the press, or…?"

"No, we would keep you and any others a secret until you are on the actual team. It's safer for you." Alex nodded and pursed her lips. "Well then, I think that's all the questions I have. I'll unblock your number," she smiled sheepishly, "and I'll call you with my decision? I'll have to talk to my cousin and brother about this. I'm sure Peter will be all for it, he worships you guys."

"Alright," Clint stuck out his hand. "It's a deal." Alex clasped his hand firmly and shook.

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Alex sat on the stool in the kitchen and explained the situation, and as she expected, her 14-year-old brother was bouncing out of his seat at the table with excitement. Peter listened with wide eyes as she recounted meeting Clint Barton. Her older cousin Cassandra, on the other hand, hadn't said or done anything besides push the sizzling meat around in the skillet on the stove throughout the entire story. She had her back to Alex, so she couldn't see what Cassandra's face looked like.

When Alex finished with the offer Clint had made her, Cassandra put the wooden spoon she was grasping down and tuned to face her, leaning back on the counter. Cass's face was neutral, not a smile, not a frown, and Alex couldn't tell what she was thinking. Peter burst out, "Oh my god, this is so awesome! You're going to be an Avenger, oh my god!"

Cass countered, "She _might_ be an Avenger, we have to talk about this." Turning to Alex she said, "You'd be in danger, you could die! You'd have to kill people!"

"And I realize that," Alex said, "But when I think about the people I'd have to kill versus the people I'd save, the saving outweighs the killing. And yeah, I could die, but maybe I won't."

"Being an Avenger, it seems like a life commitment. I doubt you'd be able to have any sort of romantic relationship for years at least, and people would start looking at you. Once you're in the spotlight, Alex, you'll find it's very difficult to escape it."

"I know that."

"And your parents-"

Alex glanced quickly Peter who wilted slightly at the mention of their mom and dad. "Are irrelevant," Alex quickly snapped back at her cousin. "They'll only care if I tell the Avengers anything, and I don't plan on that." Cassandra stared down at the floor and didn't say anything, and there was a beat of silence from everyone.

"Look," Alex said, "if I thought accepting this job would hurt either of you," she gestured to Cass and Peter, "then I wouldn't want to do it. But I do. I really, really want to, I want to help people."

Cass looked up, sighed, and put her hands out. "I'm only your cousin Alex, I can't tell you what to do," She watched Alex's eyes brim with hope. "And do I think this is a good idea? Not really. But if you want this, then I'll support you."

"Thank you, I love you!" Alex jumped up and ran around the kitchen island to hug Cass. In the next moment, Peter was there wrapping his arms around both of them and screaming, "YOU'RE GOING TO BE AN AVENGER!" Alex laughed and pulled out of the embrace. "Let's not announce it to the whole neighborhood."

"Sorry. But you have to bring them here for Christmas. Or invite us to the compound. Holy crap, that would be so cool!" He continued babbling. Alex was relieved to see Peter happy. Parts of his life- too many- had been enveloped by sadness and fear and anxiety. She hoped what she had said about her parents was true, for everyone's sakes. Hers, Cass's, Peter's, the Avengers, and her own. She did not need the Avengers to know who they really were.

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So, what is Alex hiding? How will it affect her life as an Avenger? Answers will come soon. Hope you liked Chapter 3! Have an awesome day/night!


	4. 4Chapter4

Here's chapter four for you guys! I decided to post a day early because I will be busy tomorrow. Thank you to everyone who has favorited and followed, and to Guest for commenting. Again, comments boost my mood a lot, so feel free.

Disclaimer: I don't own any Marvel characters but I do own Alex.

One note: Thoughts are in italics.

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Alex was used to trees. They were everywhere in Montana, you couldn't get away from them. Turned out they occupy a lot of space in New York, too. Alex had never thought of New York as a rural state, she supposed because of the cement grid that was New York City, but just like Montana there were enormous trunks and thousands of leaves looming over her. The Avengers Compound was set deep in the woods, and she had been driving for thirty-three minutes and fourteen seconds. Or rather, Jonah, the chauffeur of the town car that had picked her up at the airport, had been driving for thirty-three minutes and (now) seventeen seconds. The phone Alex clutched in her left hand started to vibrate and she brought it towards her face. Clint Barton was calling her. _Her._

_God, how did I get here?_ Alex was aware that she had a large, goofy grin spread across her face, but she frankly didn't care. The world's best archer, and Avenger, was calling her. She was going to be an Avenger. Alex hit the accept button on the touchscreen.

"I'm almost to the Compound." Alex said into her cellphone as she peered out the window. "I've never been to New York, it's beautiful so far."

"It is," Clint agreed from the other end of the line. "Did you have any trouble finding the car?"

"No, they had a sign for me. It really wasn't necessary to have someone pick me up from the airport, I could have just taken a taxi." Alex said. "Though Jonah is pretty cool." She added, grinning. The driver of the town car, Jonah, winked at her in the mirror.

"Nah, it's no problem," Clint assured her.

"So, when I get to the Compound, I won't need, like, an I.D. or anything, right? Because I didn't bring one. They won't try and arrest me or something, you told them I'm coming?" Alex asked.

"Yes." Clint chuckled. "They know who you are, you'll be fine."

"Alright, good. I wasn't really in the mood to sit in a cell block toda-" Alex's voice abruptly trailed off and Clint frowned.

"Alex? Alex, are you alright?"

"Oh, um… yeah, I'm fine, it's just… I'm here and… it's amazing." She breathed. "I'm… going to hang up now." Gazing in amazement, she slowly lowered the phone from her ear and ended the call with a click.

Alex rolled down the window of the car and stuck her head out after her and Jonah had cleared the guards at the front gate. She laughed, trying to take in everything. Pictures of the Avengers Compound did it no justice. The grass was lush and manicured, and it was the most vibrant she had ever seen. The trees were placed strategically throughout the grounds, appearing natural, yet organized. There were neither too many nor too little. The river that the compound was built next to shimmered in the afternoon sun, the water rolling in the wind.

However, nature had nothing on the buildings. It was almost impossible to believe that the Compound had been completely rebuilt in two years. There was a ginormous airplane hanger, and Alex could see the wing tips of flying vehicles just peeking out from inside. The long drive that she was traveling down passed right by one of the famous Avengers Quinjets. It's wings were folded up and it was sitting on a landing pad painted with the Avengers symbol. Alex turned her head to stare back at it after she had passed it, though a new feature quickly caught her eye and she swiveled again. There had to be at least a dozen seemingly separate but subtlety interconnected buildings spread out in front of and behind her, but one stole the attention. _This must be the main building, _Alex decided.

It was tremendous. It had to be at least five stories tall and was covered in glimmering, radiant windows. The windows were blue, not clear, a feature Alex guessed was purposeful. That way, the inhabitants inside the fortress could see outside, but the people outside couldn't see inside. On the side of the building was another huge avengers A, surrounded by a circle.

Jonah veered off to the left, towards the building Alex was inspecting. They zoomed past a group of trainees jogging in formation, some of whom looked back at the car and waved to Alex. She stuck her arm out the window and waved back, letting the air move her hand in smoothly wild patterns. _I cannot believe I'm here. _

All week leading up to her departure for New York, her brother Peter had been counseling Alex with advice about what not to do and how to act, as if he actually knew what the Avengers expected of her. She had never stopped him because he was just so excited, but now she wished she had told him to shut up. Politely, of course. It wasn't that his instructions were jumbled in her head, Alex could remember every word of his advice, but that was the problem. Her plan had been to go in and act like she always did, but the things Peter had told her to do were not what she would have picked. Peter was a superfan of the Avengers, while she knew their faces and powers but hardly anything else. Maybe he was right, and he was telling her to act differently because what she was going to do wasn't good enough?

_Dammit_, Alex scorned herself, _can't I just let myself be fine? Just go with the flow._ She pulled back into the car. _But you're not a go with the flow kind of person,_ Her mind contradicted. _You always have a plan for everything but I can't have a plan for this. _She shuddered. _I have no idea what I'm walking into._

"I hate my brain sometimes." Alex mumbled and rolled her eyes.

"Huh?" Jonah asked, peering into the backseat.

Alex's head snapped up, then lowered again. "Oh, nothing Joe, I'm just arguing with myself." _Like a crazy person,_ She added silently and leaned her head against the window.

"Hey kid," Jonah called, "You're gonna be okay. I've worked for the Avengers for years, they're friendly enough. Don't worry."

Alex smiled weakly. "Thanks."

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"Alexandra's car has just pulled up, Mr. Barton."

Clint hopped off of his stool in the kitchen and jumped down the stairs two at a time. "Thank you, FRIDAY."

"Of course, sir."

When Clint bounced off of the last step and crossed the threshold to the automatic doors, they slid open and she was there, unloading three suitcases and four bags. Somehow, even with her tiny frame, she was juggling them all. Clint rushed forward and took two of the bags into his arms and grabbed one of the cases.

"Oh, thank you." Alex said to Clint and then turned back toward the car. "I've got everything, Jonah!" She waved. "Thank you so much!"

"See ya later, kid." Jonah winked again and the car peeled off, back down the drive.

"Already making friends, huh?" Clint asked.

"Well, it never hurts and he's a good guy." The pair started to walk toward the compound. "Did the rest of my luggage arrive?"

"Oh yes," Clint teased, "All eleven suitcases and seven bags."

"Hey!" She mimed punching him on the arm. "I am moving my entire life halfway across the country, you know." Clint laughed, but Alex immediately wondered if punching him on the arm, even if she was miming it, was too far for someone she'd only met twice. Was that weird? She kept her face pleasant but inside she was taking deep breaths. _Just_… _you're_ _okay_.

"This is the main entrance to the compound," Clint said, gesturing around him. "The one everyone sees. The Avengers and I normally use one of the other more discreet entrances, but since you're a first time visitor, you get the formal treatment." The entrance was a large cube shaped room, but it had no ceiling or back wall. Instead, there was open sky and a driveway with an overhang providing shade. The front wall consisted or two sliding glass doors used as a passage into the inside of the Compound while the wall to Alex's left had a navy Avengers emblem covering most of it. The floor and walls were made of elegant white or blue stone, the divide between the colors appearing orderly without being choppy. The slick black cement of the driveway and the white tile of the floor beneath Alex's feet flowed into each other seamlessly, despite being total opposites in substance.

"This was all rebuilt after… what happened a few years ago." Clint said, gesturing around. Though his face never changed, Alex didn't miss the barely noticeable pause in Clint's voice. She knew what had happened, everyone did. When the Avengers had fought Thanos for the second time, their original facility had been bombed to rubble, with the team inside. How they hadn't been killed, Alex didn't know. What she did know was the facts of the bombing. The media had covered the story for weeks. However, one thing no one ever talked about was the effects that it had on the Avengers. That was not for lack of sensitivity, Alex supposed, as the Avengers wouldn't ever reveal if they were traumatized to the population of the world, but Alex often pondered what kind of pain came with your home being completely destroyed. She wondered if they even cared at all, or if they were passive as it could all be rebuilt.

Finally, Clint's sentence and the pause in his voice told her everything. The almost imperceptible hesitation indicated that Clint had a hard time talking about the events of 2023, but was trying not to show it. He hadn't said 'Thanos' or 'battle', either, instead opting for 'what happened a few years ago'. Those two little bits were evidence of emotional trauma. _God knows I know what that feels like,_Alex thought, rolling her eyes internally. If Clint was still sensitive about Thanos, it was probably a safe bet the rest of the Avengers were, too.

"Everything is state of the art," Clint continued as the pair waddled through the doorway of the compound, laden down with suitcases and bags. "The virtual assistant- oh, Malcom, Margo!" Clint called, addressing two employees who had scurried out from behind sliding doors on the right wall. "Could you take this luggage up to room 63 C?" Malcom and Margo nodded as Clint handed off the suitcases to them and motioned for Alex to do the same.

"Thank you so much," Alex smiled, looping the strap of her last duffle around Margo's shoulder for her. "It's nice to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you, Ma'am." Malcom replied.

"Oh, you don't have to call me ma'am, just Alex." Alex quickly assured him.

"It's my job, ma'am." Malcom shot back cheekily. Alex smirked.

"Alright, thanks guys." Clint said, and they hurried back out. "Malcom and Margo," He started after they left. "They work with the Avengers pretty closely, as close to personal assistants as we have. They know who you are and what you're here for, but don't worry, they're sworn to secrecy." He started towards the elevator, pressing the up button. "Tony calls them M and M so if you see him giving them that kind of candy a lot, don't be surprised." Alex chuckled. The elevator doors opened and as they stepped in, Clint pressed the floor five option. "We'll head up to the residence, that's what we call the part of the facility where we live. Most of the Avengers are probably there so you can meet them and get settled into your bedroom."

"Cool." Alex agreed.

The elevator lapsed into silence until Clint suddenly exclaimed, "Oh! Back to what I was saying before M and M came around. The virtual assistant for the Compound is named FRIDAY. You can pretty much ask her anything, or use her to figure out anyone's location within the building. She's basically a high tech Alexa."

"_Floor five: The Residence_." A soft, electronic voice informed as the elevator came to a stop. "_Identification required. Clearance level six required._"

Clint held his smart watch up to the waist level sensor in the wall. "You'll get one of these later, it's waiting in your room. We use them like I.D.s. Friday is also in the watch, so if you're somewhere outside the compound you can just talk into the watch and she'll hear you."

"_Clearance level nine confirmed. Clint Barton confirmed._"

The elevator doors slid open with a swish to show a long hallway with a wall of windows overlooking the river on the right side. Clint and Alex started down the hallway as he confirmed what Alex had theorized earlier. "The windows are tinted. You can see outside, but no one outside can see inside."

"Useful." She commented.

"Yup, that's what we thought. Thor originally came up with the idea. Apparently they used that technique on Asgard. Tony gave the rest of the team design input on... Compound 2.0." There was the pause again. He continued, "Which is lucky because now I have an entire shooting range with virtual simulation aid. Or I guess we have it now." Clint revised, eyes twinkling.

"That sounds awesome," Alex whispered in excitement.

"It is! There's even-"

"Did you seriously refer to my incredibly advanced artificial intelligence personality as a 'high tech Alexa'?" Accused a harsh voice directly in front of them. Clint and Alex swiveled their heads towards a scowling Tony Stark with his hands on his hips.

"Yes, yes I did." Clint confirmed. Then, in a childish voice, he asked, "Was someone spying on us?"

"Yes, yes I was." Tony rolled his eyes.

Clint sauntered over to the aggravated man and laid his hand on his shoulder, smiling cheekily. "This is Tony Stark and we are best friends."

"That's one way to put it," Tony said cocking an eyebrow and shrugging away from Clint's hand.

"This is my apprentice," Clint introduced, motioning towards Alex.

She stuck her hand out, "Hi, I'm-"

"How old are you?" Tony suddenly demanded, squinting.

Alex was taken aback. "Umm… sixteeeeen?" She said, drawing out the word.

"Ah, so Generation Z then," Tony decided. He waved his hand in a circle. "You're not going to constantly be on your phone, are you? Because we're not your parents and we aren't going to spend every minute of our lives trying to get you to listen to us. Do you know how to communicate in real life, because that's kind of essential, you know. Also, you're not going to kill yourself doing some stupid internet challenge like pouring bleach into your eyes, right?"

Clint blinked, not sure what had just happened. Alex stood locked in the same position she started in, her hand out. Her wide, shocked eyes slowly transitioned to offended and her mouth dropped into a scowl. "That was the rudest thing someone has ever said to me."

Tony shrugged. "Well-"

"No." Alex cut him off and suddenly burst out, "Just because I am sixteen does not give you the right to talk to me like you just did! You don't know me!" She realized she was almost yelling and took a quick breath, lowering her voice to the appropriate level. "I don't know what possessed you to say something like that to me, but you've clearly misjudged me. Yes, I am part of Generation Z, and yes, I have a cell phone, but I do not spend all day on it, nor do I record myself doing stupid things and put them on Youtube. What you just said is a gross example of the untrue stereotypes many teens get thrown into. I know how to talk to people, and I'm educated, which you may have realized if you'd given me a chance to speak before interrupting me, _Mr. Stark._" Alex spat. "Oh, and you didn't ask my name. It's Alex. And you owe me an apology."

As the anger pounding in Alex's head slowly dissipated, she realized everything she had just said. Tony Stark, one of the most powerful men in the world, was staring at her like she had just claimed she could climb a flat wall. Crap. Awesome. Still, she had no choice but to stare back. Backing down wasn't an option after what she'd just lectured.

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Clint realized he was holding his breath and let it out very quietly. _Holy shit_. He had only talked to Alex a couple of times, but he hadn't pinned her as an 'outburst' kind of person. She had seemed to him like a brilliant, sweet, and strong young lady, but not a yeller. _Nice people are nice until you piss them off, I guess. _

Tony barely ever apologized to anyone and he wouldn't be apologizing now, Clint was almost positive. What Tony had said to Alex had been offensive and uncharacteristic for Tony, really. When he teased people, he didn't usually take it to that extreme. Clint would definitely be talking to Tony later about not speaking to her like that. And he'd definitely have to tell him that Alex's parents were dead, so he wouldn't make any more remarks about them. But for now, Clint would supposed he would sit back and see how Alex handled this situation. At that moment, Clint was already impressed. She had called Tony out and didn't take any of his bullshit. He glanced at her face and realized she was staring back at Tony with fierce and unyielding intensity and it didn't look like she was blinking any time soon. _Damn._

Tony, on the other hand, simply seemed confused. He was squinting, mouth set in a wiggly line, like he was trying to process what she had said to him. He just there for a solid five seconds before smiling and Clint could have sworn that Tony looked impressed.

"I'm Tony. Nice to meet you." He smirked. "Welcome to the Avengers Compound." Tony extended his hand, but Alex didn't take it. Instead, she folded her arms across her chest and frowned. She was obviously disappointed and didn't try to hide it.

Tony made a little, "Huh," noise and then grumbled, "Yeah, okay fine. I apologize for what I said to you."

Clint's mouth literally dropped open as Alex accepted Tony's handshake and said, "Thank you. I appreciate that."

"Alright," Tony huffed, "Keep following Legolas and he'll show you the rest of the Compound. Watch your back, though, he's a crazy one." He started to march away while waving over his shoulder. "I'll see you around, Alley-oop."

"Alley-oop?" Alex whispered quizzically.

"That means he likes you." Clint remarked proudly. "He gave you a nickname. Alley-oop. Huh. Fiting. You definitely threw him for a loop. People don't stand up to Tony like you just did."

Alex shrugged. "I don't know, I just didn't like what he said. It was rude."

"I know," Clint agreed. "He usually doesn't do that kind of thing. Tony is known for being a bit… abrasive… but that was more intense than normal." Clint rubbed the back of his neck and lowered his voice a little. "And… I'm, uh, sorry about the remark about your parents…"

"It's fine!" Alex responded quickly. "I guess he doesn't know. It's fine." Still, Clint caught a flash of pain as she turned towards the kitchen.

"You can go check out the commons if you want. That's the area we're in right now, we hang out in here a lot. I've got to go find something real quick, I'll be back." Alex nodded and Clint took off down the East hallway as she walked toward the living room.

At the end of the East hallway, Clint rounded the corner and found Tony ten feet in front of him walking at a brisk pace. He jogged up to the man's side and attempted to get his attention. "Hey, Tony! I have to tell you something! Stop."

Tony did not stop and continued to look straight ahead. "I apologized, Barton. Didn't you hear me? I don't need a lecture. Weren't you wearing your hearing aids in or did you forget to put them in like an idiot?" Tony scoffed.

Clint came to a halting stop, shocked, before catching up to him again. "That wasn't okay Tony. You know you don't get to use my deafness as an insult." Tony still marched forward so Clint grabbed his arm and spun him around.

"Don't touch me!" Tony snarled.

"Her parents are dead, Stark!" Clint blurted, his voice echoing down the hall. Clint cringed, hoping Alex didn't hear that. "Alex's parents are dead." Clint repeated in a more hushed tone. "They died in a fire three years ago."

Tony's eyes widened guiltily. "You're kidding." He whispered.

"No, I'm not. You didn't know that but those things you said to her should have never been spoken in the first place, anyways." Clint frowned. Tony hand flew up to his face and started to massage his forehead.

"I- I didn't mean to… I never meant-" Tony growled and smacked himself. "Oh my god."

Clint took a step towards him. "That wasn't the only thing I wanted to talk about, Tony." Tony's eyes flicked toward him as he angrily spat, "What?" _Back to triggered, I guess._

Clint sucked in a sharp breath. "When was the last time you slept?" Tony didn't say anything and Clint continued. "Did you seriously think I wouldn't notice, Tony? The bags under your eyes are huge and dark, they look like bruises, man. Your aggression level is through the roof right now, and I think that's because you're exhausted. How long has it been? Three days? Four?" Tony, staring at the wall behind Clint, nodded. "God, Tony. We can mess with each other all day long, but at the end, I care about you and-"

Tony made a slight gagging noise.

"And this is a serious problem!" Clint continued. "Please, sleep. I know Pepper is on a business trip right now with Morgan, but I swear to god if you don't take a nap I will call her."

Tony's head snapped up. "You wouldn't dare!"

"I would, just try me!" Clint threatened. "Get some sleep!" Tony dramatically spun on his heel and marched down the hall, heading straight into his lab. He'd only been in the lab for three seconds until Clint heard the aggressive sounds of Rage Against the Machine blasting. Clint clenched his fists, extremely annoyed, and took a breath, heading back to give Alex the rest of the tour. Hopefully the interactions between her and his other teammates would go more positively. God, anything could be better than what just happened.

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There's chapter four! Hope everyone enjoyed. Appreciate comments and constructive criticisms.


	5. 5Chapter5

Here's Chapter Five. Thank you to the three guests that have reviewed, thanks for the compliments! I really love reading reviews. Enjoy!

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Clint clenched his teeth. Why did Tony have to be such a dick? It's not like Alex has done anything to him. Clint took a breath to calm his burning frustration and arrived back into the commons to find Alex staring out the wall of windows that occupied the South wall of the space. Her eyes were flicking around like a hummingbird, dancing rapidly from one spot to another. "It's all very organized." She remarked, gesturing to the grounds. "But the river is wild. It's beautiful."

"Yeah, that's something Tony can't control." Clint grumbled.

Alex turned around sharply, concern in her eyes. "Is he okay? Mr. Stark? He seemed, I don't know… sick? Or something?" He noticed her muscles tightening, as if she didn't want to offend him by asking the question.

"He's fine." Clint said waving a dismissive hand. "He hasn't slept in a couple of days," _or four._ "He's just never been an easy sleeper. His wife and daughter, Pepper and Morgan, are away on a business trip overseas, and that just makes his insomnia worse." Clint sighed. "He could sleep if he wanted to, but he's pretty apprehensive. Worried something will happen if he's not there."

"Oh," Alex frowned. "That's maybe why he said that stuff? Because he was irritated from sleep deprivation?"

"Exactly." Clint confirmed. "Anyways, let's move on. Natasha is probably in her room, so we'll go see her and then figure out where everyone else is." Clint started to move toward the West hallway before stopping again and exclaiming, "Oh! I better show you something here first." He walked toward one of the ten foot long couches, Alex following him quizzically. She watched as he pressed a button near the bottom side of the couch, and as a touchscreen appeared, sliding out from behind a panel. Clint typed in a code. Alex couldn't see the screen, but from where he placed his fingers, she guessed it was 862197.

After the code was entered, the cushions of the couch slid open like automatic doors and Alex gasped. There was an actual arsenal inside the furniture. There were twelve different guns, all sitting in their own compartments. She counted six simple handguns, four silencers, and two machine guns. Beside the guns were rounds upon rounds of different types of bullets. Next to the bullets lied two bows, one compound and one foldable recurve. There were also two thirty-six arrow quivers, filled to capacity. At the end of the couch was some kind of weird looking ancient artifact, which Alex guessed was probably Thor's.

"We keep extra weapons inside of this couch in case of emergencies. There is an artillery in the training center as well as the storage space, and we all keep at least one small weapon in our rooms, but we like to have a store closer to us in case we can't get to any of those three locations." Clint explained. "Except," he continued, "We don't really know you that well yet, so I can't give you the passcode to this couch. We'll allow you to keep a weapon in your room if you want, but you'll have to earn access to the big guns, sound fair?"

Alex nodded, pursing her lips. "Sounds fair," she agreed. I already have a pretty sure guess of the passcode, anyways.

"The probability of having to use this particular store of weapons is very unlikely. We've never been attacked at the Compound besides… the um…" Clint trailed off.

"Two years ago?" Alex interjected hesitatingly.

"Yeah," Clint swallowed and shook his head. "An attack on that scale probably won't happen again, though." He said, swallowing again. "So, bottom line, just leave these untouched, okay?"

"Alright," Alex agreed. He turned on his heel and started to march toward the West Hallway. Clint couldn't talk about what happened with Thanos without even mentioning what actually happened. It seemed that the few times he had brought up the attack on the Compound, Clint had lost his tough, go-lucky personality that he often projected. Maybe she had underestimated how deep the roots of trauma ran with the Avengers because she didn't exist for those five years they had to live. Either way, she'd just try not to bring it up.

Alex went to follow Clint down the West hallway, and noticed as they walked down it the black and white canvas pictures hanging on the walls. Some were as big as her torso while others were as small as her hand. She realized, surprised, that the pictures were of the Avengers. They were candids, snaps of the core six laughing together, of the King of Wakanda and his sister, of Bucky Barnes and Steve Rogers embracing. There was a stunning shot of Carol Danvers, or Captain Marvel, streaking through the sky like a literal shooting star and a group photo of the Guardians of the Galaxy working on their ship which Alex couldn't remember the name of. In one, Wanda Maximoff was using her powers to levitate a TV remote towards with a herself with huge grin on her face while throwing a piece of popcorn to Sam Wilson, who was trying to catch it in his mouth. Another showed Scott Lang, Clint and James Rhodes with pained looks on their faces as Peter Parker, with his arms thrown up in the air, beat them in Call of Duty: Black Ops. Alex grinned. Whatever footage was ever taken of the Avengers, they were usually in combat. Their teeth would be gritted, or they'd have ferocious looks on their faces. In all of these pictures, they were smiling and it was nice to see them looking so domestic and… _happy, _she guessed.

While Clint stopped to knock on a door, Alex stepped up to inspect a triage of canvases lined up in a row next to him. She recognized Nick Fury in the pictures, but he also had a cat with him. In the first picture, he was holding the cat in his arms, nuzzling his nose against the animal's, an uncharacteristic smile gracing his features. In the second, both of their heads were turned toward the photographer, probably noticing they were being photographed when the camera shutter went off. Their eyes were comical, filled wide with surprise. In the third picture, Fury had transitioned that cat to only one of his arms and was holding the other one out like a stop sign, mouth open in a yell. His eyebrows were drawn down, angry.

Alex laughed quietly, amused, and Clint stepped up next to her. "I took that picture about… eleven years ago, give or take," he mused, grinning. "Fury was so angry, and he resents that I framed it and hung it up, but we all like seeing it. Right there is," the corners of Clint's mouth dropped a bit. "Is one of the only times I've ever seen him smile."

Alex wasn't sure what to say to that, so she remained silent; obviously these pictures made Clint emotional. After a silence long enough to become uncomfortable, Alex decided to comment, "That's a pretty cute cat. It looks like a tabby?"

"Yeah, that's Goose." Then Clint chuckled, "It may look like a tabby, but it's not a cat."

"What?" Alex said narrowing her eyes, confused.

Clint was about to respond, but the door he had knocked on flew open and Alex jumped a little. "Alexandra Avrie, nice to finally meet you." said the Black Widow.

"Holy shit…" Alex mumbled. It was the Black Widow. Alex was standing in front of her, and Alex was surprised for some reason to find that she wasn't much taller than her. She supposed that Ms. Romanoff was still had four inches on her, but the two men she had met so far had been almost ten inches taller. Ms. Romanoff's hair really was as radiant as embers in a fire, just like in pictures. Alex startlingly realized, then, that she had swore when Natasha had said hello. "Oh shoot!" Alex said, breaking out of her thoughts and cursing herself internally. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to swear, it's just that I… I guess I'm a little starstruck!" Even though it was freezing in the building, Alex sensed a mottled flush rising up her neck. Natasha Romanoff laughed, and Alex relaxed a tiny bit. "It's really cool to meet you, Ms. Romanoff. And you can just call me Alex. Sorry about that, I guess I was just surprised." She extended her hand and Natasha accepted and shook it. The Black Widow was not what Alex had been expecting. Whenever she was covered by the news, Natasha was always dressed in a tight black jumpsuit or some kind of outfit that'd be practical for combat with her hair pulled back. Now, she was wearing loose fitting gray sweatpants and a green t-shirt. Her hair was pulled up in a messy bun, and she had no makeup. That didn't really make a difference in her face, though, as she was extremely beautiful.

"And you can call me Natasha." Natasha said warmly. "It's alright, when people meet me they don't usually act like themselves. Has Clint shown you to your room yet?" she asked, crossing her arms matter of factly.

"No, actually, he's giving me a tour and I'm meeting everyone. Now I've met you." Alex smiled.

"Yeah, we just had an interesting meet and greet with Tony," Clint grumbled.

"Why was it _interesting_?" Natasha asked, mimicking Clint's voice and narrowing her eyes. Clint just rolled his eyes, so she turned to Alex. "Alex?"

She shrugged, uncomfortable. Should I make something up? Alex wondered. She sighed. "He wasn't very… well, nice. He said some rude things to me, but Clint and I both noticed that he seemed really sleep deprived. Aggravated." She admitted.

Natasha shook her head. "Doesn't surprise me. When Tony is tired, it only takes a small gust of wind to set him off. Like a feather. Don't pay any attention to him, Tony's never been a fuzzy-feely person."

"He gave me a nickname!" Alex added. "Alley-oop."

Natasha raised her eyebrows, intrigued. "How did you handle it when he was rude to you?" she asked.

Alex grimaced. _I guess I basically accused him of being prejudiced _"Well, I yelled at him."

"_Alex _got _Tony _to apologize." Clint said emphatically and maybe Alex had imagined it, but she thought a little proudly, too.

"Apologize! Bullshit." Natasha smirked, walking back into her room. "You're kidding." Clint followed her in.

"No, I'm not. It happened. Didn't it, Alex?" Clint asked, motioning for her to follow them.

Alex took a step forward into a large room with a huge bed, cathedral ceilings, and a wall of windows. There were beams crisscrossing the ceiling and even a rope hanging down from one. Different personal items were strewn around the room; ballet shoes, clothes, books, and on one wall, swords and guns. "Yeah, he did apologize," Alex confirmed and then added, "If a little begrudgingly."

"I'm impressed that you even got him to say the word 'sorry'," Natasha's muffled voice called from inside her walk-in closet. She came out wearing a pair of snug jeans and tight but flexible looking shirt. Her hair was striking against the black shirt, the blond that had once been at the tips gone now. "And if he gave you a nickname," she continued, "That's a good sign. That means he likes you, or accepts you at least. If you got him to apologize, he might even respect you."

Alex nodded. "That's pretty much what Clint said."

Strolling back out of her room, Natasha replied, "Anyways, like I said, don't mind Tony. Let's have you meet Steve and Thor, they're training in the reinforced gym right now."

Jogging a little to keep up with Natasha and Clint's long strides, Alex wondered aloud, "The reinforced gym?"

As they got to the end of the hallway, Clint pressed another elevator button and they stepped inside. "Yeah, we actually have three gyms. Gym one has a parkour course, so that's mostly for aerial, agility, and flexibility training. Gym two we use to spar and fight with things like guns and knives. Our shooting range is also connected to Gym Two." Clint winked.

"Gym Three," Natasha picked up as the elevator stopped on floor three, "Is the reinforced gym. Some members of the Avengers can't use their powers in a normal gym, because they'd destroy it. We had a gym constructed especially for people like Thor to go all out. That's also where we do training simulations."

"Huh," Alex pursed her lips, "I didn't know that. That's pretty cool. Can we go to the parkour gym later?" She asked, with childish excitement.

"Yeah," Clint laughed, amused by her sudden perkiness, it reminded him of a kid. _Then again, I suppose she still is a kid. _Alex was only a few years older than his daughter Lila, after all.

As the trio walked out of the elevator, an unidentified crashing sound got louder and louder. Alex looked around, not seeing anything but the open hallway. "Do you think that's Captain America and Thor training?"

"I'm not sure," Clint responded. "All of the gyms are soundproof. That way," He added, pointing left as they came to a fork in the hallway. The crashing was getting progressively louder, and as Alex turned the corner, it stopped when something smacked into her. Even while she fell onto her back, she heard someone yelling, "Noooo!" and a glass vial with green bubbling liquid inside flying through the air. She hit the ground with a grunt.

Clint jumped as Bruce rounded the corner and bumped into Alex. Bruce yelled "Noooo!" As he dropped a vial and Alex hit the floor. Clint and Natasha's eyes widened as the vial continued its downward spiral, knowing that with Bruce, it very well could be acid or something more dangerous. Natasha started forward to catch it, but Alex was faster. Her hand shot up from where she was lying on the ground and caught the vial nimbly. Clint, Bruce, and Natasha blinked. Alex looked up at them calmly. "I caught it."

"Oh, wow, thanks little person!" Bruce laughed nonchalantly, taking the vial out of Alex's hand. "That could have been a disaster." Bruce took Alex's outstretched wrist and pulled her to her feet in one swift motion.

Alex shook her head. She wasn't on the floor anymore. That was a rush. "Uh…" she gazed up at the seven foot green person in front of her. "You must be Dr. Banner?"

"That's me!" Bruce said. "Just call me Bruce or Hulk. Whatever is cool." After a pause, Bruce asked, "Who are you?"

"Oh, right!" Alex exclaimed. "I'm Clint's apprentice, Alex. I just got to the Compound today. It's awesome to meet you."

"Right back at ya." Bruce smiled and then looked down at the vial in his hands. "Oh, yeah, I have to get this to my lab. My biosynthesizer broke right in the middle of an experiment and it can't be exposed to the elements for very long because…" Bruce started to speak science jargon that none of the three people listening understood. "Anyways," He continued at the end of his speech, "I have to scoot." Bruce started to run again, the crashing commencing. Before he was very far away, he turned back to Alex. "If you're fingers start to turn yellow come and find me immediately!"

After he was farther away, Alex blinked. "He's kidding, right? What was I holding?"

Natasha sighed. "It's probably better if you leave that up to speculation."

Thor's hammer struck Steve Rogers' shield, creating a boom of energy that took out dozens of cyber engineered enemies. Even though Alex stood behind a protective glass window outside of the gym, she still flinched. Alex watched in awe as they demolished the rest of the targets as if they were made of glass. The virtual environment faded to reveal a large white room, able to fit at least two football fields inside, and Thor and Mr. Rogers high fived.

From the observation deck, Clint pushed the button that enabled the PA system for the gym and said, "Hey, it's Clint. I've got someone I want you guys to meet." Steve looked up to the window and gave a thumbs up, waving to Thor. The pair jogged out of the gym and quickly arrived at the observation deck.

Clint nodded to Alex, and she stepped forward. "Hi, I'm Alexandra, but you can just call me Alex. I'm Clint's apprentice, It's nice to meet you." She offered her hand, and Steve stepped forward to accept it.

"I'm Steve," he said, smiling. "That's Thor." Thor grinned and waved and Alex ticked her hand. "So, you're our first Avenger in training?"

"Yeah, I'm really excited to be here. I just arrived, like, an hour ago. Clint's been giving me a tour." The men nodded, and Alex pointed past the divider window toward the gym. "We were just watching you do a simulation. How does that work? Can the targets touch you, or are they just holograms?"

"Well, the way it works," Steve responded, "the enemy is holographic, they're not solid. If they do 'touch you', or if one of their bullets or knives or whatever weapons they have comes in contact with your body, you'll lose a certain amount of health, and it'll tell you if you're dead or critical. Obviously the training simulations aren't very accurate, you wouldn't be able to keep fighting full force with a critical injury, but we designed them to mirror real life as best we could." He shrugged.

"What about if you're shooting arrows or a gun? Do they rebound off the walls?" Alex wondered. "If the target is a holograph, it won't hit them."

Thor piped up to answer the question in his thick, deep australian-sounding accent. "The walls are pliable when they need to be, like marshmallow fluff. They just absorb arrows or bullets and they fall out on the other side."

"I didn't know that building a wall like that was possible." Alex laughed in wonderment.

"Well, lots of things are possible when you have Tony Stark." Steve commented with a twinkle in his eyes.

"Tony did have to work out some kinks with the marshmallow wall though," Thor said, then grinned. "One time when this building was first built, Barton here got knocked into a wall and he was absorbed-"

"Okay, Thor, we don't need to mention that." Clint huffed. "May have been funny to you, but I, for one, was terrified." He said, rolling his eyes.

Natasha, Steve, and Thor snickered, Alex joining in. "I feel like getting sucked through the wall would be kind of fun," she admitted.

"Right! Sure! Until it's pitch black and you can't breathe!" Clint shot back, indignant.

"Okay, you were in the wall for two seconds." Natasha laughed. "Drama queen."

"Hey, it didn't happen to you! You have no idea what kind of effect it had on my psyche." Clint tapped his temple.

"Okay, Clint." Natasha smirked, then turned to Alex. "You've met everyone, do you want to see your room now?"

"That would be great." Alex nodded. "It was awesome meeting you, Thor and Mr. Rogers."

"Steve," Steve corrected, smiling warmly.

"Right, Steve." Alex grinned back. Everything was working out.


	6. 6Chapter6

Hey readers, I am so sorry!!!! I had a super crazy week and haven't had time to upload until now. I'm really late I'm sorry! Comments are very appreciated!! A little bit of a trigger warning in this chapter.

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_The little girl pressed her palm against the stinging spot on her cheek where her mother had viciously swiped her hand across, trying to blink away tears that rested in her eyes. Tears were weakness. Tears would earn her another punishment. I don't want to, mother, she whispered timidly. You don't have a choice, her mother hissed back. Jump in. She pointed to the pool beside the girl, who was standing in her bathing suit, shivering. The girl glanced at her mother, then back at the pool. Now, her mother commanded threateningly. __No. The girl said firmly, narrowed eyed testing her mother's patience. Now, Alexandra, what did we say about this? Her mother asked. We don't use the word 'no'. You do as you're told. Then her mother put a band on her chest and pushed her back into the abyss of the pool water, lungs filling with water as everything faded to a dull gray._

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Alex wiped the cold sweat off of her arms and heaving chest with a towel. She blinked water out of her eyes, trying to banish the images she had seen in her nightmare. Alex had screamed when she woke up, but luckily, she didn't think any of the Avengers had heard her.

Dumping the towel into a hamper in the corner of her bathroom, she rushed out into her bedroom and slid open one of the windows. The feeling of panicked suffocation immediately vanished once she had a portal the wide expanse of the woods. The refreshing night air washed over her, and she greedily breathed it in through her nose. The nightmares had been worse since she had gotten to the Compound; almost every night, she was waking up in a panic like this. She'd been having the same amount of nightmares that she had at home, but Peter seldom slept, so they'd stay up together and have a comedy movie marathon. That made everything better, but now that she was at the Compound, it wasn't like she could just wander into an Avenger's room and ask if they wanted to watch movies with her at 2 A.M.

Alex took one more breath and then closed the window, snatching a wool blanket from where it lay on the floor and wrapping it around herself. Then, silently as a ghost, she opened her door and slipped down the hallway. Entering the commons, she flopped down on the sofa, reaching for the TV remote.

At that moment, a large boom echoed from the other side of the room in the kitchen. Alex sprang to her feet, her fingers automatically curling into clenched fists ready for an attack. Her heart rate jumped up, and adrenaline started to course through her veins.

"Well, Alley-oop. Fancy seeing you here." Tony Stark smirked from the kitchen. Noticing her defensive and stressed posture, he said, "Relax, kid. I just shut the fridge."

Realizing it was only Mr. Stark, Alex lethargically dropped like a stone back onto the couch. Tony stumbled over and dropped down a few feet away from her, propping his feet up on the red coffee table between the sofas and armchairs. He set a RedBull drink fresh out of the refrigerator down on the table. "So, what brings you to the commons at this time of night?"

"I could ask you the same thing," Alex said, avoiding his inquiry. "You don't look like you've slept in days, you should be getting rest."

"Nah, don't feel like it." Tony answered. "Wanna answer my question?"

"Nah," Alex smirked, looking straight into Tony's eyes. "Don't feel like it."

Tony offered a sarcastic smile. "So that's your character, then. A smartass."

"That's rich, coming out of your mouth," Alex shot back. Tony yawned, rolled his eyes and reached for his RedBull. Alex was faster, snatching the can and standing up.

Tony narrowed his eyes, startled by the abrupt movement. "Give that to me."

"No," Alex replied firmly, suddenly serious. "It's been four days since you slept, and RedBull won't help that. I heard you and Clint fighting in the hallway today. You were a little loud. I also like AC/DC, by the way."

"I told you, I don't feel like sleeping," Tony insisted, lunging for the can in her hand. Alex just pulled it farther away.

"Why not?" she demanded. "It's really unhealthy for you to-"

"I just don't want to!" Tony exclaimed, aggravated.

"Yes, you do!" Alex yelled back. "Your eyelids are drooping every two seconds, and you're practically falling over! Your body wants to sleep, and you won't let it! Why?"

Tony growled and fell back onto the cuisions, too drained to keep fighting for his drink. "You're so concerned with why I'm up, why are you?"

Alex pressed her lips into a line, biting the inside of her cheek before speaking. "I have nightmares," she admitted, the harsh freeze and condensation from the drink covering her hand. "I have a hard time sleeping because they're always there and they're terrible. I don't… I have to get up when I have them, or I get stuck in my own head." Alex watched Tony blink and swallow, eyebrows arching up a little. "You have the same problem, don't you?" She asked Tony more softly. "That's why you don't want to sleep. Because things attack you when you let go. Or your family." Alex added, and she observed a little tremor go through his hand. She nodded matter of factly. "It is your family, then. They get hurt in your dreams because you're not able to protect them. But it's not just the sleep you're scared of, is it?"

"Scared," Tony scoffed, though his voice was a little shaky. This girl was admittedly good at hitting nerves.

"Yes," Alex replied seriously. "It's okay to be scared, even if you are the legendary Tony Stark," She said, letting some sarcasm drip into her voice before continuing. "I think that since you see you're family get hurt in nightmares, you don't let yourself rest because you're scared of what the consequences might be in real life if you're not there."

"Stop. Stop… Speaking." Tony growled, then demanded, almost yelling, "Why do you care so much? You don't even know me."

"I want to help you. I know exactly how you feel." Alex said.

"No, you don't! You're a kid, you don't know how, you don't know…" Tony trailed off, breaths getting shallower as he tried to control his rising anxiety.

"I heard Clint tell you in the hallway today that my parents died in a fire." Alex said, voice wavering for a fraction of a second before returning to calm and calculated. "I constantly worry about my brother and my cousin getting hurt and that I won't be there to help them when they do. I see them die, or worse, almost every night in my dreams, so I do know how you feel." Alex insisted, voice remaining steady.

Tony sat stoically, puzzled. This girl, whom he had only met once, had just gleaned so much personal information about him from things like his hand movements. She had also gone from superficially sarcastic to saying the deepest things he had ever heard a child say in a matter of seconds.

When Tony didn't appear to respond, Alex walked across the commons and placed the RedBull back in the fridge next to three sixteen packs of the largest size of cans. "Jesus, how much RedBull do you guys drink?" Alex called out to Tony. When she turned back toward the couches, Tony was standing, staring at her. "I'm not the Mona Lisa, ya know. Say what you wanna say." Alex demanded. She placed her hands on her hips, bracing for the impact of his words.

Tony opened his mouth and then closed it before speaking, like a fish out of water. Then, he promptly asked, "Do you want to watch a movie?"

"Oh," Alex said in surprise. She had been expecting him to deny everything she had just said and storm off. Alex supposed everyone had surprises. "Yeah, sure. What kind of movies do you like?" She asked making her way back to the couch.

"I feel like a comedy." Tony responded, smiling, though his eyes were dreary. "You ever seen Mrs. Doubtfire?"

"With Robin Willams? I love that one. Let's watch it." Alex agreed, pulling her knees up to her chest. Tony nodded and picked up the remote, navigating the movie section of the large television in front of them. He was being surprisingly civil all of a sudden, and Alex wasn't sure exactly why. Maybe she had hit a nerve.

Tony noticed that his hand was shaking as he held the remote and gripped it harder, hoping the tremors would go away. Alex had cut him to his core. She had said exactly what he didn't want to hear. She had said what nobody ever liked to notice about him. She had seen right through his fasade to the broken glass underneath and tortured him with making him listen to the shattering. Yet, maybe she really did care. Maybe she was just trying to connect with him. Maybe she did... understand. Plus, he had the feeling that she could go back and forth with him all day in a quipping war. Tony smiled, clicking on Mrs. Doubtfire.

As the opening credits started to play, he leaned over to her and whispered, "Hey, I'm sorry I was such an asshole to you yesterday." He swallowed. "I shouldn't have talked to you like that."

"You're right." Alex agreed. "But I accept your apology. You're going through a lot, it's okay."

Tony looked at her, wanting to say something else, but not sure what.

Alex smiled softly, turning towards him slightly. "It's okay." She confirmed. Then, eyes flicking to the screen, "The movie's starting."

The pair snuggled into the couch and watched Robin Willams do his thing.

As the last scene of the movie closed and the credits started, Alex sighed. "I love that movie." When she didn't hear a response, she looked over to find Tony peacefully sleeping. His face had lost the drawn eyebrows, and the corners of his mouth were finally turned upward. He smiles in his sleep, Alex grinned. Quiet as the air, she walked to the automan in the middle of the room and lifted the lid up. She grabbed two wool blankets and returned the couch, carefully placing one of them over Tony's sleeping form. Satisfied, she yawned, dropping onto the couch opposite him and curled up, pulling a pillow under her head and pushing the remaining blanket out across her legs. Maybe Tony wasn't all that bad.


	7. 7Chapter7

Hey readers! I decided to upload another chapter 5 days early since I uploaded 5 days late last time! In response to Guest, there'll be another apprentice in a short while. Just stick with me. Enjoy!

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The swing music danced lightly through Alex's bedroom at the compound paired with the voice of FRIDAY. "It's 9:00 AM, time to wake up." Friday informed her, the clipped sounds of her Scottish accent soothing.

Alexandra opened her eyes, blinking away the sleep. Though she loved the music of her alarm, it was a little jolting. She turned her head to the left and then to the right, trying to snuggle into her pillow, but it was gone. She vaguely remembered whipping it across the room in the middle of the night due to a nightmare.

She sighed and sat up, arching her back like a cat and yawning. She pushed strands of her blonde hair out of her face and dropped the arrow she always slept with in her hand onto her desk, trading it out for a hairbrush. Using the mirror across her room, Alex straightened her tangled mop and pulled it into a messy bun at the nape of her neck. Rubbing her eyes and stumbling to the floor, she quietly commanded FRIDAY to turn off the dark effect on her windows and watched as the shade of black on the panels of glass became progressively lighter until the wide green expanse of the compound was visible.

"No one can see me, right? You didn't turn off the privacy setting, did you FRIDAY?" She asked, pulling black athletic pants and a white cotton shirt out of her dresser and closet.

"_Did you ask me to, Ms. Avrie?_" The AI asked. Alex of course knew that FRIDAY didn't have emotions, but she couldn't help but detect a condescending tone.

"Glad to see that when Tony programmed you, you inherited his sass." Alex mumbled under her breath, though not grudgingly. After a slight pause she added, "Maybe don't tell him I said that." Alex had only been living at the Compound for two days, but after spending a few minutes with Tony, she immediately recognized that his sarcastic jabs were his own way of showing affection. He had nicknames for all of his teammates. Thor was usually Point Break, Steve was Capsicle, Clint was Legolas. Tony would refer to Bruce as his 'Science Bro', a fandom that Alex was familiar with and that had evidently reached the actual Avengers. The only nickname Alex didn't understand was Natasha's. Tony would call her Natalie, and whenever he did, she would smirk at him. Alex figured that it must be an inside joke. Tony would always say the nicknames teasingly and in passing, but there was a hint of fondness in his words if you really listened.

Flipping the lock on her door, Alex pulled off her night shorts and t-shirt and switched them out for the white cotton and under armor leggings. She opened her door and padded across the cream carpet, humming along to the music that was still playing. She retrieved her thrown pillow and placed it back on the bed. She had seen the other Avenger's rooms, and they had loads of pillows heaped on their mattresses, but Alex really only preferred one. Any more, and she felt like she was being smothered. She had three blankets though, two person sized and one that was able to cover the entire king sized bed. At home, she had a twin so the huge bed was a bit of an adjustment.

Alex fluffed her comforter so it settled delicately on the surface of her sheet. She walked around the bed frame, tugging it until it was perfectly placed, then added the decorative pillows that she'd set on the floor the night before. After, she stepped back and let out a satisfied breath. Making a bed was a constant in anyone's life. The blankets would always have a spot and the pillows, too. Alex could make it look organized and clean.

She walked over to her dresser and took her smart watch off of its charger, wrapping it around her wrist. FRIDAY was in the watch, too. Tony had helped her get FRIDAY connected to all her devices. Alex liked the idea of having an ever-present AI ready to help at your call, though there was always a small chance of it turning on you. She didn't think that would happen, though.

Or at least she hoped it wouldn't.

Alex walked over to the window and gazed up at the sky. It was divided in half, one side being completely blue and the other full of dark, rolling clouds. Alex felt excited tingles traveling up her spine. _Maybe it'll rain._

"Good morning." Alex pivoted to find Steve leaning against her door frame. She smiled. "Hey."

"You know, this song was popular when I was young." He gestured around the room, at the swing music bouncing off the walls.

"Oh, yeah? That's cool. I really like the feeling of the vibration and the beat and all the different musical instrument playing at once…" Alex sucked in air through her teeth. "It just hits you right in the heart, you know?" She bounced out of the room and Steve followed, walking next to her. Their feet slapped the stone floor of the hallway. "Besides, anyone can dance to it. All you have to do is find a partner and spin and jump and kick!"

Steve chuckled. "Oh yeah, the spin-jump-kick. My best friend Bucky, he was great at it. The girls would be falling all over him and, before the serum, I would get stuck with some girl that clearly didn't want to be around me. Or should I say, she got stuck with me." Steve nudged Alex. "I was too frail to do much of anything, but Buck always made sure I had fun." He smiled wistfully, caught up in memories.

"Bucky like Bucky Barnes? Like the… Winter Soldier?" Alex asked hesitantly.

"Yeah," Steve answered. "The world has seen more of Bucky's actual self in the last few years, but some still only see him as the terrorist he was…" Steve swallowed, "brainwashed to be." Steve's eyes became a little dark and he looked down. Alex cursed herself for bringing up Bucky's codename.

Bringing his head back up, Steve shook himself a little. "Bucky mostly keeps to himself, though. He doesn't want to be part of the Avengers because of all the publicity. He visits me, though, so I assume you'll probably meet him sometime soon."

"He seems pretty awesome. Did you know my brother's favorite superhero is the Winter Soldier? He'd freak if I told him I met him."

"Well, maybe we'll have to arrange something with your brother, then. I'm sure he would like to meet him himself?" Steve suggested.

"Oh my god, he would be ecstatic!" Alex skipped once at the thought. "That would be amazing, thank you!"

Steve watched Alex bounce down the hall and wondered how this girl could be so positive and light all the time. _Then again, _he told himself, _I have only known her for a couple of days. Everyone has a dark side._ Steve couldn't imagine what it would be. She was so young and bright while he was only around older people with very dark, very serious issues. Sure, he and his teammates could really act very immature sometimes, but other times… weren't as pretty. Alex was a nice change of pace from the norm.

As the pair got closer to the commons, a.k.a. the kitchen and hangout space, they could hear arguing and the sound of pans clattering. The smell of eggs and bacon wafted through the hallway and as Steve and Alex entered the commons and settled onto the couch they witnessed Tony pick up some scrambled eggs straight out of the skillet and whip them at Clint, who was sitting on top of the fridge.

"I don't want to get down!" Clint bellowed in response.

Tony shot back, "you're just like a toddler, you know that? We don't need your butt all over the place that holds our food!"

"My butt isn't _inside_ the fridge! It's not like I'm actually touching any food! I like it up here, it's comfy." Clint objected.

Before Tony could say something else, Alex interjected. "How did you even get up there?" The fridge was stainless steel, taller than any of the Avengers with the exception of Thor. The only accessible way she could think of was climbing the cabinet handles next to the fridge and using them as steps. Wouldn't they snap under Clint's weight, though? He had to be at least 220 pounds.

"I climbed onto the kitchen island and jumped." Clint told her. Alex nodded. _That makes sense._

"He also screamed, 'Parkour!'." Natasha smirked.

"Great, so we had feet where we eat food." Tony rolled his eyes.

"It's not that big of a deal, Tony." Natasha said from her stool at the large table in front of the windows. "Besides, he's up there all the time, and you've never cared."

"That's because I've never seen him!" Tony gasped, cutting up the eggs in his skillet. "FRIDAY, why didn't you tell me?"

"_You never asked, Boss."_

"What betrayal." Tony deadpanned.

"It looks like it's going to storm," Bruce commented, ignoring the current conversation. He was gazing at the windows in the same manner as Alex has in her bedroom. "Those are nimbostratus clouds."

Thor trodded over next to Bruce and looked outside. "I was hoping to fly to New Asgard today. Maybe I'll go tomorrow, rain is bothersome when I fly," Thor started to lightly tap his face in different spots, miming rain drops. "Slaps my face like pellets and all."

At that moment, drops of rain began to fall outside and run along the windows. Tony yelled "Breakfast is served!" and the Avengers descended on the kitchen area, grabbing plates and dumping heaps of eggs and bacon and blueberry pancakes onto their plates. Alex watched as Thor grabbed an entire jug of orange juice just for himself. _Dang, these people sure at a lot of food._

While they were all distracted, Alex slipped out the automatic doors into another hallway and started to sprint. The rain would only last so long, after all.

After Alex got to the end of the hallway, she glanced at the elevator but instead ran towards the stairs. She vaulted over the railing of the spiral staircase, dropping one story and landing on her feet, nimbly catlike, in a crouch. She was on the fourth floor of the compound, so Alex dropped two more stories before breaking into a sprint again and running through another pair of doors to the outside. The rain still wasn't hitting her, and she looked up. There was a glass overhang over her head. She skidded to a halt right at the edge of the overhang.

Alex took a deep breath, shuddering a little before tentatively sticking her hand and arm out into the falling water. She loved rain. Loved it. Whenever it rained, she would always go and dance in it, unless there was thunder and lighting of course. Sometimes Peter and Cassandra would join her, and they'd jump and spin and splash in the puddles. She missed them incredibly in that moment. She wouldn't stop that tradition now, even if the Avengers might think she was weird. Some things were just too important to ignore.

The rain droplets drenched her arm immediately, running down and dripping off her fingers. It was warm and soft, coming down thick in huge droplets, just the way Alex liked it. She stepped fully into the rain and her hair was plastered to her face, clothes sticking to her skin. She took a running leap and twirled through the air, blinking droplets out of her eyes.

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Clint was halfway to sitting down at the table with the others when he realized there was only six of them. "Wait guys, where did Alex go? I didn't see her leave."

"Neither did I," Natasha said, turning in her chair and looking around the room.

While Tony opened the fridge and grabbed a water bottle, he asked, "FRI, where is Alex in the building?"

"_She's not in the building, sir_."

Tony closed the refrigerator and raised his eyebrows. "Well, where is she then?"

"Working on it, boss."

Clint felt a spike of anxiety spark in his heart. She was probably fine… but why couldn't FRIDAY find her?

"Wait, she is there!" Thor exclaimed, pointing. From his seat next to the window, he could see Alex spinning around in the yard next to the river, in the rain. "What's she doing?" He asked quizzically.

"Um…" Bruce fixed his glasses and squinted. "I think she's dancing."

"I used to do that when I was younger," Steve mumbled, then clarified. "Danced in the rain, I mean. Actually caught a cold a few times."

"She's going to kill herself," Tony said, alarmed. "Slip or get struck by lighting or something! I'm going down there." Tony marched out of the room and the rest of the Avengers looked at each other, shrugged, and followed him.

Once the group was under the glass overhang outside, Tony cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled, "Alex! What are you doing! You'll get struck by lighting, come inside!"

Alex turned towards the Avengers and yelled back, "I won't! These are nimbostratus clouds, like Bruce said. They carry rain, but they're not thunderheads!" Then she threw her hands up, as if in praise, and seemed to yell at the sky, "I love rain!" and continued dancing.

They all stared at her for a second before Clint proclaimed, "Well, I'm gonna go have fun." And jogged towards Alex. Tony watched as each of his teammates followed Clint. He shook his head and brought up the rear.

—————————————

Alex was surprised. The Avengers were following her into the rain. Clint ran up to her and asked, "So, what do I do?"

Alex tilted her head. "What do you mean?"

"What do you do out here when it's raining?" He asked again as the rest of the group came up behind him.

"Well, um…" Alex shifted, not exactly sure what to say. "I do whatever I want. Sometimes I just stand and let the rain fall on me and sometimes I dance. It's relaxing."

They all nodded their heads, but didn't move, still not sure what to do. Only Steve pushed to the front and stuck his hand out to Alex. "Care to dance?"

Alex smiled and whispered into her smartwatch. Thank goodness it was waterproof, she had forgotten to take it off before sprinting outside. "FRIDAY, please play the swing dancing song from this morning and amplify it so all of us can hear it."

"Of course."

The excited tones of the music started to play and Alex took Steve's hand, the pair moving away from the rest of the Avengers. They started to kick and spin until they were flying in a circle, huge smiles on their faces. If Steve hadn't been able to dance in the '40s, he sure was good at it now.

The rest of the group joined in, Natasha grabbing Clint, Thor and Bruce looking at each other and shrugging before grabbing hands. Tony didn't have a partner until a little rocket came hurtling out of the Compound yelling, "DADDDDDDY!" Morgan Stark jumped into her father's arms, excited to join in the fun.

——————————————

Everyone danced until breathing became hard and their limbs started to tire. Bruce and Thor flopped onto the ground, straight into the mud of the riverbank, and the rest followed. Alex started to giggle, then Clint, then Morgan and soon everyone was in roaring with laughter. Steve laughed so hard he started to cry.

Suddenly, Morgan dug her tiny fist into the mud, pulled up a big gob, and plopped it straight onto Tony's head. All sound from the Avengers stopped, except Morgan's giggling and a gasp from Tony. Tony sat there in shock and as the mud ran down his face it only made Morgan giggle harder. He turned his head to look at her.

"How dare you?" He gasped in mock outrage. He got up onto his knees and tapped his chest. "You wanna mess with this?" Another perfectly aimed brown, sticky, orb hit he side of Tony's head. Alex looked over to see Clint nonchalantly laying back in the mud, grinning. She grabbed her own handful of mud and threw it onto his shirt. That issued a chain reaction of Clint throwing mud back at Alex, but her ducking and it hitting Bruce instead. Soon it became an all out free for all, and by the end of the mud fight, everyone was completely coated in mud. The rain stopped and the sun broke out from the clouds. "Maybe we should… uh…" Alex tried to say between snickers, "we should go inside. Before the mud dries on us and we get shells."

Clint, laughing too, said, "That's probably a good idea." And pushed up off the ground.

—————————————

"You hit Tony straight on with that mud!" Bruce yelled at Clint.

"Well, that's why they call me Hawkeye!" Clint howled.

Tony whistled. "Because you launch mud missiles at people?"

Alex held her stomach, trying to stay standing while she laughed. "What about when Bruce threw the mud glob at Thor's chest, but it flew right into his face after it hit?"

The laughing of the group seemed to be louder than an earthquake. They were leaving a huge trail of muddy footprints behind them, except for the drips coming off of Morgan, who was in Tony's arms.

Tony started to talk. "Or what about when-"

"_What. Is going on here."_ Somehow, one woman's authoritative voice managed to rise above the chorus of laughs and screams. Pepper Potts, in her pencil skirt and light blue blouse stood in front of the group, hands on hips, eyebrows raised expectantly.

Everyone immediately stopped talking and laughing. No one made any moves until Tony stated, "We threw mud at each other." Thor started to snicker and it was all over. Everyone melted into a big puddle of happy tears.

Pepper just rolled her eyes, turned, and marched down the hall. She waved at them over her shoulder. "Hit the showers!"

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Thanks for reading! Did you like it? Reviews?


	8. 8Chapter8

Here's the next chapter. I don't feel too confident about this one, I feel like I got writers block while writing this, so bear with me! Hope you still enjoy!

"That's not correct!" Bruce yelled. "It's 3,362,094!"

"Point goes to Bruce," Natasha nodded, clearing the calculator for another equation.

"What the hell?" Tony grumbled comically. "Natasha is biased, of course Bruce would win."

"That was a long time ago, Tony!" Natasha and Bruce said in unison.

The Avengers and Alex sat sprawled around the commons, watching the latest installment of Who's Better at Math-Tony or Bruce? and Alex cocked her eyebrow at Tony's comment and Natasha and Bruce's reaction. "What was a long time ago?"

"Nothing!" Bruce insisted immediately. "What's the next equation?"

As Natasha rattled off the latest impossible algebra problem, Alex slid onto the carpet from where she sat on the couch and crawled over next to Thor, looking for answers. "What happened?" She whispered. Thor gestured toward Natasha and Bruce, then made a kissing motion. "Really?" Alex whispered and snickered, turning her attention back to the game at hand.

"How about… 950 times 6,352?" Natasha asked.

There was a beat before Tony shot up out of his seat with excitement. "6,034,400!"

"Point goes to Tony." Natasha confirmed and Bruce grunted. "Tony's at twenty and Bruce is at nineteen. Game only goes up to twenty so that means Tony wins."

"Thank god," Clint groaned. "After twenty-six minutes it's finally over."

"Maybe not," Tony commented, suddenly looking at Alex. "How good are you at math? Wanna play?"

"Oh, no, I'm okay. There's no way I could beat you or Bruce." Alex shook her head and smiled sheepishly.

"You don't have to beat us, we won't compete against you, just answer the questions yourself." Tony offered.

Alex tried to deny, suddenly uncomfortable, and shifted farther into the couch. "I think I'm okay-"

"Nonsense!" Tony waved a dismissive hand. "We've all played before, now it's your turn. Natasha, give her an equation."

Natasha turned to Alex. She knew math was an acquired skill and didn't want to make the girl attempt something she couldn't do. Alex met her gaze, shrugged, and sat up straight on the couch. She nodded at Natasha.

"How difficult do you want me to go?" Natasha questioned, clearing the calculator to type in an equation.

Alex shrugged again. "I guess start out easy and get harder until I can't answer anymore."

"Okay…" Natasha replied, "How about… 12 times 9?"

"108."

"13 times 7?"

"91."

"15 times 14?"

"210."

Natasha cocked an eyebrow. Alex was answering the problems in less than a second. "Um… how about 21 times 32?"

Alex didn't miss a beat. "672."

"89 times 25?"

"2,225."

"102 times 56?"

"5,712."

"892 times 16?"

"14,272."

Natasha narrowed her eyes. "456 times 225?"

"102,600."

"3,286 times twelve?"

"39,432."

Natasha's mouth set into a frustrated, though impressed, line and Alex just shrugged, smiling playfully. "Okay," Natasha said, "You obviously have no problem multiplying numbers so we're going to try something new. I'm going to say a series of numbers with different functions and you're going to tell me the ultimate answer."

"Okay," Alex nodded, "Go for it."

"26 times 3 plus 18 divided by 32 times 12?" Natasha said rapidly.

"36."

Natasha looked around at her teammates, who seemed confused as well. Bruce and Tony had their eyebrows drawn, Thor was stroking his beard thoughtfully, and Clint had covered his mouth with his hand. He removed it and asked Alex, "How did you do that?"

"I don't know," she replied. "I calculated it. Give me another one." She suggested, turning back to Natasha.

Natasha hit the buttons of the calculator and they clicked with every tap. "1,298 divided by 42 plus 279 plus 86 divided by 72 and then take away 432."

Alex paused, not answering immediately like she had with the other equations. She closed her eyes. Tony chuckled, "Have we finally outsmarted the little geni-"

"-426.5!" Alex burst in. "Or -426.501322751, if you wanted the exact number."

All of the Avengers heads snapped toward Natasha, and she glanced at Alex, glanced at the calculator and nodded. Thier mouths collectively dropped open as Alex listed off the decimal. Thor broke out of his momentary surprise first, saying jovially, "Well, I suppose that Alex has won!" and high fived her. As everyone else started to laugh, surprised, Tony grabbed the StarkPad sitting next to him on the couch cushion and typed. When he found what he was looking for, he tossed the Pad across the room to Alex who caught it easily with her nimble reflexes.

"What's this for?" She asked, flipping it over and inspecting the start button displayed on the white screen. "What am I doing?"

Tony shifted to cross his legs and leaned his head against his hand. "It's just a little test. I want to see what your results will be."

"What test is it?" Alex questioned, a little suspiciously.

Tony smiled devilishly. "You'll find out." Alex rolled her eyes playfully and settled into the couch. She tapped the start button and her eyes focused in on the screen. The rest of the Avengers turned their attention away from her and started to discuss how they hadn't had a mission in a while.

"Fury's going to call us in soon, he has to. It's been over five weeks," Clint commented.

"I'm getting anxious." Tony replied. "It's not usually this long before something happens. It feels like a tsunami, where all the water pulls away from the beach before the wave comes crashing in. There's been nothing for us to handle and soon there's going to be a crime wave."

"Probably." Bruce agreed. "This has happened before. Remember four months ago when we didn't have a mission all January and then in the last week we had to deal with a catastrophe every day?"

"That was hellish. We barely had time to recover or sleep in between." Natasha picked up her mug of chai tea and took a sip.

"Let's be honest," Thor said, "None of us except me really sleep anyways."

"Oh, we know," Clint snorted. "I still don't know how you manage sixteen-hour stretches. I haven't slept more than four hours at a time since… ever since I can remember I guess."

"What is this supposed to mean?" Alex's head snapped up suddenly. She jumped off the couch, walked over to Tony and showed him the tablet. "171?" Flipping the screen around, Alex displayed the number on the screen to the rest of the Avengers.

Tony snatched the StarkPad from Alex. His eyes roamed over the screen, seemingly double checking her result, widening significantly. "Holy shit." He whispered, glancing up quickly at Alex then back down at the tablet.

"What?" Alex demanded. "Is that bad?" She started to frown, kneading her hands. "What was the quiz?"

"No, no, it's not bad!" Tony stood up, showing Alex the screen again. "I gave you an I.Q. test." Tony pointed at the screen. "This is your I.Q."

Alex looked up at him, a smile slowly growing on her face. "I've never taken one of those before. I always wondered."

"Oh my god." Clint jumped up and hurried over, Natasha following. They grabbed the tablet out of Tony's hands to see the number themselves. "That's a genius level score."

"Higher than genius, actually." Tony remarked, then looked at Alex. "Much higher. You must have known. You were acting like you weren't very good at math, even though you're amazingly proficient. Why?"

Alex sat back down on the couch and shrugged. "I don't know. People tend to think I'm a know it all when I answer problems like Natasha gave me." The corners of her mouth tipped down. "I try not be."

"You're not," Natasha assured, sitting down next to her. " And you don't have to worry about that with us. We've lived with a couple of know-it-alls for years."

"Hey!" Tony and Clint exclaimed in unison.

Alex laughed lightly. "Thank you."

There was a beat of silence before Bruce clapped his hands. "Well, that happened. We've got another certified genius in the house! What does everyone want for dinner?"


	9. 9Chapter9

Hey readers. First of all, I want to majorly apologize for the hiatus I pulled. It wasn't planned, and I'm really sorry. I have some tough things going on in my life right now, so if it happens again, please forgive me!

Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter, and reviews are like water in a desert, so please take the time to review. Also, there may be some new characters in a few chapters, but that's all I'm going to tell you for now! Thanks for reading!

-————————————-

"Well… um," Alex shut the fridge, pausing for a moment to think. "Have you tried the melatonin?"

"Yeah, I already took a double dose, Allie, I told you that." Said Peter, his voice emanating from her cell phone that sat on the kitchen counter.

Alex bit her lip. Her brother was having another sleepless night. They'd been more frequent lately, but Peter didn't usually call her unless one was particularly bad. If she believed in god, she'd pray for him. However, even if she did believe, she couldn't pray away migraines or PTSD. She couldn't pray away insomnia, nightmares, or seizures. She wanted to help Peter, but she couldn't. She wasn't a medical expert, and no doctor could pinpoint why Peter had seizures or migraines, though lots had told them that it was probably a side effect of Peter's PTSD. Even though they had given him medications, none of them had ever worked.

Alex herself didn't have seizures, and her migraines were only occasional, but her insomnia was rampant. How was she supposed to help her brother with something she couldn't get under control either?

"Have you had any seizures today?" Alex asked, lighting a burner on the stove and placing a pan of water to boil. "I know you have a hard time sleeping after one."

"I haven't," Peter answered. "I think I'm just having a tough night." There was a pause. "I'm just so tired, Allie, and I can't fall asleep."

She grabbed a wooden cutting board out from a cabinet. "Yeah, well, insomnia tends to do that."

Peter's voice jumped up an octave. "You're not helping and nothing is working!"

"Peter, I can't- I can't always help-" She grunted. Alex noticed his choked voice, assuming he was on the verge of tears. She placed both palms flat on the kitchen island and leaned on the counter in front of her. Squeezing her eyes shut and pinching the bridge of her nose, she tried to think of something to cheer him up. After a second she exclaimed, "Hey, Peter? You know how we always run around in the rain and dance? I did that the other day when there was a shower here, and the Avengers followed me. It was really fun. When you visit the Compound, we could all do that together."

There was a pause before Peter tentatively asked, "You mean… the Avengers will let me come to the Compound sometime?"

"Yes!" Alex assured. "Tony is already talking about having a Fourth of July party at his new house, and I asked if you and Cass would be able to come. He said yes, and I'm sure they probably wouldn't mind you spending a few nights at the Compound with me."

"That's… Oh my god I can't wait!" Alex could basically see him grinning and smiled to herself. Peter was quiet again before adding, "I miss you, Alex. So does Cass."

Alex pressed her mouth into a firm line. "I miss you too, little bro. I miss seeing you everyday."

Suddenly Peter burst out, "Could you sing to me?"

"Sing to you?" Alex asked. She stopped in her tracks, caught off guard.

"Yeah," Peter confirmed. "I liked hearing you sing around the house and I remember how you used to sing me to sleep? What was the song you always sang… um, Chasing… Chasing-"

"'Chasing Cars'." Alex whispered wistfully, caught in a fist of memories. When Peter was younger and he didn't fully understand insomnia, Alex would sing to him to make him sleepy. Sometimes his eyelids would flutter closed before she finished the song, sometimes not. Either way, he insisted that hearing "Chasing Cars" always helped him. "It's been so long."

"Yeah, it has," Peter agreed. "But I remember always loving when you sang to me before bed so do you think you could…"

He trailed off and Alex blinked, snapping back. "Of course. Get settled into bed, maybe you'll fall asleep."

She heard him shuffling around and snagged a tomato out of the glass bowl of fruit sitting next to the stove. Placing it on the cutting board, she sliced into the tomato. The Avengers were gone on a mission and Alex had decided to make an actual dinner, since they had ordered takeout for the past four nights. She couldn't decide if she was cooking because she didn't want to eat chinese again or if she was just looking for something to do with her hands. It was the first mission the Avengers had been called on since Alex had come to live with them, and it was making her more anxious than she had anticipated. Clint had told her that it was a simple mission, one target, minimal security, but she still couldn't help imagining all of the ways it could go wrong. He'd also said that since it was during the cover of night, she'd be asleep for most of it anyways. Alex has snorted at that. _What a joke. _She was on edge, and had almost smashed her phone when the sharp ring of Peter's call sounded.

"I'm in bed," Peter informed her.

"Okay," Alex swallowed, cleared her throat, and started to sing. "We'll do it all…"

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The Avengers tromped down the East hallway towards the commons. The bags under their eyes pulled them down and keeping themselves upright was becoming strenuously difficult. The group hadn't even cleaned the blood off of their faces yet, or the dirt streaked down their bodies. The mission had turned out to be significantly more gruesome than they had anticipated, as they found a whole group of people- women, children, men-locked in a storage container and discovered that they were not just taking down an arms dealer, but a human trafficker. They had rushed into the container to help the people, but discovered that they had all been violently murdered just minutes prior. The ring leader was sending them a message. Someone had tipped him off. They had been too late.

Clint stumbled and blinked away tears as he gazed down at the dried blood of a young boy staining his hands. The kid was still alive when Clint had reached him, but died as Clint tried in vain to put pressure on his bleeding wounds. He cried over his corpse, not able to help it. The boy had looked just like Cooper. He glanced to the side, seeing Steve viciously trying to scrub away the blood on his arms. Natasha noticed too, and reached out, putting her hand on Steve's as they walked. Hands stilling, Steve looked up at her, a single tear rolling down his face. "I-I…" he mumbled, trailing off.

"I know," Natasha said softly.

Clint pricked up suddenly, his ears picking up another noise that was echoing down the hallway. He stopped, speaking the first words he had uttered since the mission ended. "Shhh," He told the group, even though no one was making noise. "Do you hear that?"

The Avengers all turned to look at him quizzically before, one by one, hearing the same thing Clint did. They all listened for a moment before Bruce murmured, "Is someone singing?"

"Maybe it's Alex." Tony observed. "She should be the only one in the Residence. Everyone- don't make any noise. I want to hear."

The group slowly creeped down the hallway, careful not to tip Alex off that they had arrived. She was probably singing because they hadn't been supposed to return for another couple of hours. As Clint listened, he realized that he had often noticed Alex humming, but never singing loudly enough to hear. _Too bad, _he remarked, _she's amazing. _Her voice was smooth as cream and as warm as a hug. It was the kind of noise that made Clint feel comforted. The others seemed to agree as small smiles slowly crept onto their faces for the first time since they'd discovered all those people.

When they reached the doorway to the Commons, the group crouched down in one swift motion, not wanting to alarm Alex. Natasha leaned her head against the wall and closed her eyes, listening to the song, and Steve followed, hands stilling for the time being. They were only there for about half a minute before Bruce shifted and the rubber sole of his shoe emitted a loud squeak. Bruce froze and grimaced and the others tensed, waiting for the singing to stop. But it didn't. Alex carried on without pause.

——————————————

Alex's head whipped to the side as she picked up a noise coming from outside the commons. She briefly wondered if it was the team returning, but decided against that as they weren't supposed to be back for hours. No one else had access to the residence where the Avengers lived.

Alex's mind started to spin as she continued singing, holding on to the thought that if she carried on, she could surprise whoever was sneaking around. As she shifted the knife she held in her hand into a more accessible position, she crept towards the doors to the commons and repeated the mantra that had been drilled into her head throughout her childhood.

Breath, sneak, assess, fight, repeat.

Breath, sneak, assess, fight, repeat.

Breath, sneak, assess, fight, repeat.

When Alex reached the doorway, she gripped the handle for a moment before violently turning it and pulling the door open. Singing cut short, she leapt into the hallway, seeing a band of figures in front of her. A few of them made surprised noises and without thinking, Alex swung the knife.

The figures came into focus right before she plunged it into Bruce Banner's left eye.

The Avengers reacted accordingly. Natasha pulled out her gun from her thigh holster, Steve brought his shield up, Thor jumped to his feet, Clint jerked forward to attack, Tony threw his arms forward, Iron Man armour morphing around his skin, and Bruce scrambled backward to get away from the blade that had almost pierced his face.

The knife flashed as it dropped and hit the tile floor with a clatter. Snapping his head up, he realized it had been Alex who had dropped the knife and she let out a shocked gasp, before quickly throwing her hands out in front of her. "I… I… I didn't know it was you!" She exclaimed, panicked breaths giving away her shock. "I thought someone was breaking in. You weren't supposed to be back yet!" She took a step back. "I… I didn't know that… I'm so sorry." Alex's wide eyes returned back to a normal size and her face slowly dropped into the stone-like gaze she normally wore. She dropped her head, avoiding all of the Avengers questioning eyes as the tension slowly leaked out of their muscles and they returned to a lethargic, though still alert, stance.

Clint rose to his feet and the others followed, Natasha hesitantly slipping her gun into her holster after he shot her a look. Clint inspected the knife that was laying on the ground, narrowing his eyes slightly. There was a red sludge covering the blade that was now splattered on the white tile. It was a darker red but it couldn't be… Clint's shoulders tensed. "Alex… is that blood?"

"No." she responded immediately. "I'm making spaghetti, so I was cutting tomatoes and had the knife in my hand. I heard a noise outside the doors and I didn't think you would be back for a while, so I immediately went on defense." She folded her hands together. "I really didn't know it was you. I'm so sorry." She directed the last sentence more toward Bruce, whom she had almost stabbed, seeming remorseful.

"FRIDAY." Tony whispered, and the A.I. spoke into his earpiece.

"As far as I can tell, she's telling the truth, sir." Tony nodded at his teammates and they all relaxed.

Bruce strode forward into the commons with an affable smile, putting a hand on Alex's shoulder as he passed her. "No stress, little sister. Happens to all of us sometimes."

The rest of the Avengers filed in past her, except for Clint, who picked up the knife Alex had dropped. He grinned genially. "You might want to get a new one. Thanks for making dinner, you have no idea how much we need a home cooked meal right now." He sighed, and pushed Alex gently back into the commons.

She raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

She followed Clint to the couch where he flopped down, grabbing the remote control. "Let's just say, that mission didn't go exactly as planned." He closed his eyes, but quickly snapped them open when Alex grabbed the remote out of his hand. "You need a shower," she proclaimed, and grabbed Clint's wrist. For someone of such a slight build, only being about 5 '2, she impressively pulled Clint to his feet as if he were a stuffed animal. Thor nodded his head in approval from where he was lurking the kitchen before lowering his hand into a pot of cooking meatballs to snatch one up, but Alex saw him.

"No," she exclaimed, pointing an accusing finger across the room. "You've got dirt all over your hands, Thor. I did not almost stab Bruce in the eye to have the meatballs ruined." Tony snorted at the casual way she said it while she continued on talking. "And you realize that water is at boiling point, right?"

Thor simply shrugged. "Meh," he grunted, "I will do anything for food. It is my one true love."

"That is such a mood." Tony mumbled from his seat at the dining room table, absently staring into space.

"A what?" Natasha asked.

"A mood." Tony repeated. While Alex snorted, the others just stared at him. "You know, like 'relatable'. It's a mood! Morgan taught me that phrase." He seemed pleased with himself.

When Thor tried to pick up a meatball again, Alex rushed over and jovially pushed him away. "Seriously, you guys, take showers and come back for dinner." She commanded. "It'll be waiting for you when you get back." Natasha gave Alex an appreciative look as the men filed into their respective hallways, a little disgruntled, and she nodded back. Once everything was quiet again, Alex noticed a shallow, gasping sound coming from somewhere in the room. She turned her head back and forth, pacing a little, trying to locate the sound's location before jumping like she had stepped on hot coals.

Alex rushed over to her phone still lying on the kitchen counter and held it up to her mouth in frantic action, though she spoke in a calm level voice. "Peter, Pete, I'm okay."

A feeble, panicked, voice erupted from the phone, barely audible to others, but akin to a scream to Alex. "Allie… you're okay…"

"Yeah, Peter, I'm fine-"

"You just stopped singing and I didn't know… but you're okay." Peter exhaled slowly.

"I got distracted, the Avengers just came back from a mission, Peter, I'm so sorry." Alex leaned against the counter, gripping the phone like a lifeline. Her brother was already having a bad enough night and she gave him a frickin' panic attack.

"It's alright." He sounded a little calmer. Alex heard an indistinguishable voice in the background of Peter's call and he came back with, "Cass is calling me Alex, I have to go. She wants me to do the laundry while I'm up, ug. I hate doing your chores, Alex, they're no fun." Alex laughed. "But anyways, I uh, I love you and stuff."

Alex smiled. "Well, 'I love you and stuff' too. Talk to you later."

"Bye." The call ended with a click and Alex relaxed her tensed shoulders, whole body dropping with the exhaustion of panic. She couldn't belive she'd been so stupid. She knew that Peter would get anxious if she suddenly stopped making noise. She put a hand to her forehead and jumped a little when she realized Steve was still in the room. "Didn't I tell you to take a shower?"

"Your brother?" Steve countered in a choked voice, avoiding her question.

"Yes, that was Peter." Alex shuffled over to the stove, stirring the pot of spaghetti noodles. She had gotten out the biggest pot that she could find and dumped eight boxes of spaghetti in. Alex knew that Thor would eat at least two boxes by himself, and the others would devour the rest. Glancing back at Steve again, she realized he was rubbing his hands together viciously, and maybe unconsciously. Alex raised an eyebrow and squinted, trying to distinguish what he was attempting to scrub off his skin. Her eyes widened as she recognized the substance covering Steve's hands.

Blood.

Abandoning the pot for the moment, Alex nonchalantly strode over to Steve and took his hands. When she touched him, he looked down at her, surprised, as she led him to the kitchen sink. Alex flipped the faucet to run hot and pulled Steve's hands under the flowing water. She squirted a glob of vanilla buttercream hand soap onto her palm and began to gently scrub Steve's shaking hands. Blood came off in little, dried flakes, the thin, red pieces washing down the drain as if they had never existed.

Steve and Alex stood in silence for a few minutes as she washed his hands before Steve finally said something. "It was terrible." He swallowed, and Alex stopped to grasp his hand in a comforting grip before continuing to wash. "This guy, we thought he was an arms dealer, and he was, but… but he was also a human trafficker. And someone must have tipped him off because… it was supposed to be an easy mission. And someone must have tipped him off… hundreds of people, Alex, hundreds of people, children and adults, that had been trafficked, and they were all-" Steve choked on the word before clearing his throat and saying it. "Dead. We were too late. All this blood. Some of them were still alive. They died in our arms, all this blood is because of us."

"Don't ever say that." Alex said calmly. "What happens is awful, Steve, but it's not your fault. You probably saved thousands of people by killing that dealer."

"I know… I just, I… I wasn't expecting-" A tear dropped down Steve's face, and Alex gazed up at him while she grabbed a kitchen towel and dried off both of their hands. When she was done, Steve held out his now pristine hands and stared at them, deflated. "All that blood…"

Abruptly, Alex pulled Steve into a tight hug, despite his blood and dirt stained uniform. She wrapped her arms around his torso and pressed the side of her face into his chest. Steve, returning the gesture gratefully, rested his chin on the top of her head, which reached to the hollow of his neck. He kept one arm wrapped around her back while resting the other on her hair, seeking comfort. "You tried," Alex mumbled, "That's what matters. Those people died, but you tried to save them. And you just saved many more by killing the target. You tried." Steve didn't let go, instead wrapping Alex tighter. She returned the gesture and after a minute whispered. "Go clean up Steve. The others will be back soon." She smiled. "And then they'll eat all the pasta."

"I don't want to shower."

"Why?"

Steve held his breath before exhaling sharply and spitting out a sentence. "If get in the shower and the water is running over me then I'm going to cry and I don't want to." He blinked and tensed up. He hadn't meant to say that. He didn't know why he'd admitted something so personal to Alex, he wouldn't even say what he just said to any of his teammates.

Alex suddenly pulled out of the embrace, gazing up at Steve. "I hate to admit it to you," she remarked with a melancholy smile, "but you kind of already are crying." She laughed and Steve scoffed, a few more tears squeezing out of his eyes. Alex took her hands and swiped them across his cheeks. "It's okay to cry," she told him. "Healthy, even. You might need to cry so you don't repress your emotions." Internally, Alex smirked. _Ironic that I'm the one saying that._ "I bet you'll feel better after you wash all of this off," She gestured to the dirt and blood, "You tried Steve, that's what matters." He nodded and she pulled him in for one last tight, quick, hug, and then gently pushed him towards the East Hallway where his quarters were located. "Now, go." Steve smiled sadly and walked. At the entrance of the hallway, he passed Clint, who was just coming out with damp hair. Steve leaned towards him, putting a hand on his shoulder and whispering, "You picked a good one, Barton."

Alex was already back at work, stirring the bubbling sauce while simultaneously mixing a Bloody Mary.

"I don't think you're old enough to make a Bloody Mary." Clint smirked, entering the kitchen.

"It's not like I'm going to drink it," Alex said waving her hands defensively. "Besides, I figured after the way Steve told me that mission went, you all could use some alcohol."

"Thanks, but I don't like Bloody Marys." Clint said, taking a seat at a bar stool across the kitchen island from Alex.

"I know," she responded, "That's why I'm making you an Old Fashioned. That's your favorite, isn't it?"

Clint blinked, slightly surprised. "Yeah, it is. How did you…?"

"I pay attention." Alex told him with a small smile. "Thor likes Bloody Marys, you like Old Fashion's, Natasha prefers straight Vodka, I've mostly just seen Tony drink RedBull but he also likes Margaritas once in awhile. Bruce drinks Bud Lights, but not a lot. It's usually chamomile tea with him." Alex paused to think before finishing. "Steve only has Gin and Tonic, or Rum, occasionally."

"But, you haven't even known us for that long…" Clint raised an eyebrow, slightly confused.

"I watch, Clint. I observe."

"Why?"

"So I know what kind of drinks to make you!" Alex laughed. "I don't know, I have nothing better to do. I watch people and do favors and…" She shrugged.

Clint nodded and turned his attention back to what Steve had said to him. "What did you talk to Steve about, by the way?"

She turned, putting on oven mitts and grabbed the pot of spaghetti. Clint was impressed she was able to lift the enormous pot and transfer it to the sink. She placed a drainer in the deep sink and poured the boiling water and the spaghetti into it. "Not much," she said passively, "We just chatted for a minute."

"Well, you said something right, because he likes you." Though Alex tried not to let it show, pride was basically glowing through her skin. Clint wondered something that he wasn't sure if he should say out loud, but went through with it anyway. "Alex, do you watch people and do them favors so they'll like you?"

She immediately stiffened, spinning back around to sprinkle parmesan into the heating sauce. "Sometimes I do favors for people because I just want to help them." She snapped defensively.

"Oh, yeah I know." Clint assured her, "It was just a question. I mean, that's normal, wanting people to like you."

Alex sucked in a breath, seeming as if she may have answered if Bruce and Thor hadn't burst into the room. "Lay your hands off of me, Banner!" Thor yelled, trying in vain to tug Bruce's thick forearm away from around his neck. Bruce was giving Thor a noogie and laughing. Clint chuckled, taking in the rambunctious pair before looking back to Alex. She already had a pleasant smile on her face, transfering the large pot of noodles over to a table set for ten. The start of a frown appeared on Clint's face as he watched Alex. Her mouth showed signs of happiness, but he recognized flat eyes when he saw them. He had struck a nerve. He had wondered before how much he didn't know about this girl, and even more now. If her absolute desire to please people was just insecurity about her new situation, her personality, or sprouted from something deeper. Even the way she snuck up on them with a knife, so readily and calm and processed, that wasn't normal. He desperately wanted to investigate deeper into her past, but put the thought out of his brain. Alex would tell him more things about her when she was ready, it wasn't his place to butt in. Clint supposed he'd find out what had happened in her life in time.


	10. 10Chapter10

Here's another chapter, earlier than a week later because I still feel really bad about the long hiatus! I'm mostly doing exposition right now, but I promise the action will pick up _very soon!!!_ I hope you enjoy! Please review, if you have any suggestions, questions, or affirmations I want to hear them!! Thank you to everyone who has favorited and followed.

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Alex tentatively ran her fingers over the weapons in the Reinforced Gym armoury. There were many weapon stores littered throughout the grounds, but this one was the most impressive. There were all different types of guns, spears, daggers, swords, grenades (fake, obviously), staffs, even a couple of whips, and Natasha's electric batons. But resting on a rack to the right of her, the weapons she had already deciding on using, were four different bows. They were all foldable and snapped into place when ready to be used. Two of them were midnight black, one compound and one recurve, the lights of the gym reflecting on the sleek limbs. The other two were a majestic purple, both recurve. Alex smiled, knowing purple was Clint's favorite color and that he favored recurve bows, as did she. Her first training simulation was finally upon her. She had watched the Avengers run several, but had never participated. She'd trained with Clint in one of the normal gyms three times, and snuck into the shooting range many times at night, but this would be the first official exercise.

Alex strolled over to the rack of bows, stopping for a moment to admire them. The bows were made of the best quality material, finely crafted to Avengers standards. She gripped the bow that was already in her hand, her own bow, tightly.

Clint silently entered the armoury, so Alex jumped and tensed her bow hand when he strolled over to her side and playfully tapped the top of her head before asking, "You'll use your own bow, then?"

She relaxed as quickly as she'd reacted. "Yes. Your bows are really awesome, though. How much do you pull in draw weight?" Alex settled back into place.

"250 pounds," Clint answered.

Alex's mouth dropped open. "How?" She'd read tabloids that reported outrageous draw weight numbers, but she'd never believed them. No one could pull that much. Clint was by far the most private of the Avengers, and not much was known about him. It wasn't as if the public cared about him much anyways, they didn't obsess over him like the others on the team. To civilians, compared to Iron Man and Hulk and Thor he was just a guy with a bow and arrows, though he was much more than they realized. Or that Alex had even realized before she'd gotten to the compound. "I mean, I've heard rumors but I didn't think…"

"I just can," Clint shrugged, "After you shoot for a long time you can pull more and more weight. How much do you pull?"

"Only 90 pounds."

Clint stopped in his tracks and raised an eyebrow, surprised in his own right. "Only 90? I barely ever hear of women-anyone, actually- pulling over 50."

"Yeah, I guess. Like you said, I've been doing this since I was three so I just kept adding weight until I had to stop. I like to test myself."

Clint nodded in impressed approval and gestured for her to follow him toward the exit from the armory and then entrance to the gym, expertly grabbing a handful of arrows and a quiver off of the wall. "You'll be using normal arrows for now. We don't use explosive arrows in confined areas for good reason, and electric arrows won't do much against holographs." He placed the arrows securely in the quiver and handed it to Alex, who slipped it onto her back. "Sometimes I'll use grappling hook arrows but there's no point right now because there isn't any structures set up. Tony's made me a lot of other types but I'm not introducing those until later." He held the door for Alex to walk through into the gym. "I know you've only trained with us a couple of times, so just do the best you can in the simulation, kay? This is just to see what you can do. Combat will start when you hear the siren after three beeps." Alex nodded, then watched Clint stride away with an air of authority.

She made her way to the starting platform in the middle of the white gym. The entire gym was about the size of a football field with, Alex estimated, a 30 or 35 foot high ceiling. The only window was the one that divided the gym and the observation deck, which was about halfway up. Clint and Natasha were behind it and she knew Steve was in the room as well, though she couldn't see him. The walls were interesting, and she couldn't exactly describe them. They were almost… puffy? Like marshmallows, but with a certain designed pattern? Anyways, she knew they'd absorb her arrows, she'd learned that on her first visit.

Once she was steadily standing on the platform, she watched as Clint moved his arm to flip a switch in the control room. Three beeps sounded in a quick sequence followed by a short though deafening siren. I guess no one'll miss that. Alex jumped slightly as an unidentifiable holographic creature appeared in front of her, but quickly recovered. She swung her leg up and kicked through its head, swiftly 'killing' it. She stumbled to regain her balance, as she hadn't actually collided with anything. I'll have to account for that. She sprinted forward, punching and kicking more enemies to defeat, using various martial arts moves. Every time Alex had a second to look around, she analyzed her surroundings. All of the holographs seemed to be originating from the Northeast corner of the room, as there was a tiny, barely visible projector. The projector flickered, and she realized two things: first, that the projector was a hologram, too, and second, that the Avengers were testing her. She couldn't think of a reason to have a fake projector unless they wanted her to destroy it, too. She'd get to that projector, but first she'd have to fight her way into the seething mob of creatures without dying.

She took a breath, preparing herself before drawing three arrows as quick as lightning and releasing them all at once. They soared through the foreheads of her foes and followed past into the walls. She began to shoot even more, about half of the creatures taken down in seconds. She dove forward and slid between one of the creature's legs and stabbed it in the back with an arrows she held in her hand, doing the same to the one that advanced on her after that. Another one swiped her side and her health status dropped, if ever so slightly. Alex grunted in frustration, but recovered quickly. She continued to slide under the creatures and kill them, inching closer and closer to her target.

Up in the control room, Steve stepped forward to stand next to Natasha and Clint. Watching Alex flip through the air and kill with efficiency and ease, he commented, "I didn't know her abilities extended this far."

Clint glanced back at Steve momentarily before turning his attention back to Alex. "Neither did I." When he had trained with Alex, she'd never exhibited the analytical strength she was showing now. He recognized that she was making her way towards the projector to destroy it, which was what he had hoped she would do, but he thought it would at least take her a couple of minutes to realize what she needed to do. Alternately, she had figured out the ultimate goal in less than thirty seconds. The simulation was on the lowest setting, though he was still extremely impressed. When he had sparred with her, he'd pinned her easily and she didn't use any of the flips or rolls she was using now. The three arrows at once didn't surprise him, he'd seen her perform that trick before. Not as fast as she was doing it now, but still fairly quick enough. Her strategy in this moment was impeccable. Instead of running straight into the mob, she was fighting her way in from the side, where less holograms were being projected. She was extremely close to the projector now, and with one final flip, crushed it beneath her feet.

Alex let out a deep breath, not really winded but needing air all the same. Tension leaked from her muscles as the holograms filtered out of the room and waved at the control room. "Hey, was that what I was supposed to do?"

Natasha flipped on the PA system. "Yes, that was good. It was on the lowest setting, do you want to bump it up a level?"

"Sure," Alex responded and jogged back to the platform.

Clint broke in when she got there. "We're going to try a different type of training now. See those targets?" He pointed and Alex turned to see six glowing targets that had appeared on the wall behind her. She turned back and nodded. "Okay, I want you to shoot until you hit a bullseye on all six targets, and you have to stay on that platform. You can go as fast or as slow as you want, we're not timing you, got it?" She nodded again. "Okay… go!"

Alex drew in a breath, centering herself, before turning sharply and grabbing three arrows out of her quiver, knocking them, flipping her bow sideways, and releasing, shooting the next and final three arrows before Clint's eyes could follow the previous to the targets. He blinked, realizing that every target had a bullseye smack dab in the center. "Five seconds," his whispered, slightly shocked.

Still staring outward, Natasha mumbled back, "I thought you said you weren't timing her."

He shook his head. "I was interested."

Steve put his hands on his hips. "So, how did she do that? When I watched her in training she didn't indicate any ability to do anything like she just did. How did she shoot three arrows at once?"

"I guess I didn't really give her a chance to do something that advanced before. I mean," Clint shrugged, "I could do that and much more by her age."

"But you were part of a traveling circus. You lived on the road, you had to learn tricks and how to defend yourself, this. Is not the same." Natasha pointed out.

Alex turned towards the trio and gazed up at them. "Should I keep shooting or…?"

Clint hit the button to the intercom and spoke. "Sure, go ahead and empty your quiver." She nodded, resuming shooting but only one arrow at a time. Clint shut off the speaker and turned back to Nat and Steve. "We don't know her that well yet, guys. It took you and the others," he gestured to Steve, "Literal years to find out that I was in a circus, or that I had a family. Alex is probably a lot more complex than we think. She might has an entire backstory that we can't even imagine."

Steve frowned and Natasha raised an eyebrow, speaking incredulously. "And the fact that we have no idea who we let into our lives doesn't scare you? At all?"

Clint was quiet for a moment besides a sigh, leaning against the counter and watching Alex shoot her how with extreme precision. Nonetheless, arrows were landing all over the target in the center, and for a moment he was confused. His eyes tracked the pattern of the arrows, shaking his head as he realized she was constructing a smiley face. It didn't even seem difficult for her. "I trust her, Natasha. I don't know why. That might be a mistake, but she… just seems very sincere. I don't know." He shrugged, smiling a little.

"Trust?" Steve questioned. "That's a strong word. Do you even trust me?"

"Yeah, Hawkeye." Natasha teased, though there was a slight edge to her tone. "I thought you were supposed to be one of the most paranoid people I've ever met."

"Maybe. And I do trust you, Steve, for the record," he smirked, "But I dont think Alex's intentions are hostile, and I'm not suspicious." He frowned. "I'm usually suspicious."

"What about when she almost stabbed Bruce last week? That doesn't set off any alarms?" Natasha asked. "Cause it worries me. A normal teenager wouldn't-"

"Maybe she's not a normal teenager!" Clint snapped, suddenly on defense for some reason. Steve crossed his arms, sending Clint a pointed look. Calm down. Clint took a breath, lowering himself into the swivel chair by the counter and continued. "I'm just asking you to give her a chance, Tash. We don't know what she's been through. None of us were normal teenagers and we turned out okay."

Natasha huffed. "You know who else weren't normal teenagers? Loki. Erik Killmonger. Hundreds of other girls employed by the Red Room, Hela, Red Skull, probably, Thanos' "children" or whatever the fuck they were to him. Not to mention-" Natasha clammed up suddenly and closed her mouth tightly. "Nevermind." She spit finally.

"No Natasha, I think you should finish that sentence." Clint snapped. "What were you gonna say? Not to mention what?" Clint recognized the blunt regret in her eyes, which just made him push harder. "What were you going to say?"

Natasha held his challenging gaze. "Not to mention the close relationship you had with an insane teenager."

Clint's eyes narrowed. "And who would that be, Natasha?"

She sighed. "Barney."

"Jesus!" Clint spit, springing out of the chair and turning away from Steve and Natasha.

"He almost killed you, Clint!" Natasha started forward. "You thought he'd protect you and he hurt you instead. I almost lost my partner because you trusted someone that was just out to get you! Who's to say that she-" Natasha jerked her head toward Alex down in the gym. "-is any different?"

"Who's to say that she isn't? All I'm doing is giving her the goddamn benefit of the doubt!"

"I'll give someone the benefit of the doubt when they're not living in my home!" Natasha's voice was almost at a yell.

"Innocent until proven guilty," Steve mumbled.

"What?" Natasha spun on him.

"You're going on about Alex, but she hasn't really done anything that has seemed very worrisome, at least to me." Steve resolved. "I mean, she made us dinner. She washed the blood off my hands because I couldn't work up the nerve to do it myself."

"Right, because a hostile wouldn't try to get on your good side. Just because she's nice doesn't mean she's not hiding something." Natasha shot back. "I think she's done more than enough. For one, she knew all of our favorite drinks, and that's really weird. And they tasted amazing!"

"What's the problem with that?" Clint snarled.

"What teenager knows how to mix up a perfect Bloody Mary on a whim? And has no one else noticed how she tenses every time something surprises her, which ties into the Bruce-almost-stabbed incident the other day? How she doesn't really sleep? How she seems to have advanced combat training that we haven't taught her? She mentioned all the sports she's done, but nothing that would have taught her-If she can do that-" Natasha pointed to the targets in the gym, that were now all decorated with an abundance of perfectly placed arrows. "-what else can she do that we don't know about?"

Clint thought back to that night she'd made spaghetti, and how he'd noticed the way Alex handled the knife in her hand. How he'd noticed her demeanor when she went to stab Bruce wasn't natural. "Just because she can fight doesn't mean she's a sicko! Lay off!"

"And the things she says sometimes. She can get inside your head really easily, I've noticed, and that doesn't make me- it's like mind games!"

Without a word, Clint abruptly stomped towards the doors to the control room and they slid open. Natasha put her hands on her hips. "You're just going to leave? Seriously?"

Clint huffed, looking over his shoulder at her. "I usually value your advice, Romanoff," he growled with barely contained anger, "But right now I can't stand it. She's my apprentice, not yours, so back. The fuck. Off." With that, he stormed away. A minute later, Steve and Natasha watched as he caught Alex's attention and beckoned her out of the gym.

Natasha glanced at the ceiling and shook her head. He called me Romanoff. He never calls me Romanoff. Clint would reserve her last name for times when he was very upset with her, but he hadn't used it in years, nor had she for him. At this point with each other, their last names were basically swear words.

"That was a little bit awkward for me, you know." Natasha's attention snapped to Steve, who was now sitting in a chair with a ghost a smile.

Natasha rolled her eyes. "Boo-hoo." She sighed. "Why didn't you back me up?"

"Because I think Barton is right." Steve said and Natasha frowned. "I know you're not in the habit of trusting people and that you don't totally agree with this whole apprentice program, but you're being unfair."

"I'm being cautious."

"You're being callous." Steve corrected and Natasha scoffed. "If…" His voice softened. "If Clint had judged you the way you're judging Alex, you probably wouldn't be here right now." Natasha looked away and he prodded. "Am I right?"

"Technically yes."

Steve sighed and walked over to her, laying his hand on her right shoulder. "Trust Clint to make the right decision. No one's asking you to be best friends with her, just to give her a chance."

Natasha groaned. "Fine, I'll try."

"Good. And you might want to apologize to Clint."

Natasha glanced at Steve incredulously. "Seriously? Have you ever tried to apologize to that man?"

He chuckled. "He can hold a grudge, that's for sure, but you're his best friend. He'll forgive you." Steve thought for a second. "How he reacted wasn't very nice. He has some things to apologize for, too. Still, talk to him sooner rather than later, Nat." Steve smiled and walked out of the bay.

Natasha frowned. She turned to the window and watched the targets in the gym disappear and the arrows absorb into the wall.


	11. 11Chapter11

Hey everyone! I don't know if it's been a week since I uploaded or not because by this point in the school year I pretty much lose all perception of time. Enjoy anyways and thank you to everyone who has favorited and followed!

In response to **LilyChaiten**_\- _there will be other apprentices one this story and we are actually very close to meeting the next few!!!

Please, _please _review! I love reading them, comments, suggestions, affirmations.'

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_The little girl stands shivering, teeth chattering, next to the black water. She glances to the side at the depths of the pool and quickly squeezes her eyes shut, struggling to muffle the sobs that are trying to push out of her throat. She grips her wet purple swimsuit, stretching it to cover more of her skin, though she can't decide if it is making her colder or warmer. Her mother is standing in front of her, and she says something, but the words are garbled. _

_"What?" She asks._

_Her mother points. "In the pool. Now. Your training is not complete."_

_"But, mother, I've been swimming for hours and-"_

_Her mother slaps her and the girl recoils. "Did I teach you to talk back? You will receive orders and you will follow them." _

_The girl whimpers, tears finally slipping out of her eyes. "Mother please! I'm so tired, I don't think I can-"_

_"Of course you can! You must!" Her mother leans down and grasps the girl's chin in her hand, squeezing so hard that the girl flinches. "The tears in your eyes must disappear, Alexandra." Her mother growls. "You are a weapon…"_

_The girl and her mother finish the phrase together. "And weapons don't weep."_

_"Jump in or I'll make you." _

_The girl looks once more to the pool and back to her mother. Her mother frowns. "Fine." She roughly pushes her back, and the girl falls into the water with a splash. She screams, but is completely enveloped by icy blackness that flows into her mouth and down her throat, drowning her. Her scream fades to silence. _

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Clint Barton's eyes shot open and he glanced at the clock. _2:43 AM. I don't wanna, I really don't_. _Too early, ugh. _Clint groaned and stuffed a pillow over his head, squeezing his eyes shut. **_Who_**_ is screaming? Why is it so loud? Ughhhh. Stopppppp_. It took a Clint a moment to register what he had just thought, and when he did it sent a jolt through his body. _Screams_?

Somewhere, someone was screaming. Clint went into combat mode. He abruptly threw off the covers on his bed and pushed off the mattress, rapidly blinking his eyes to clear them. His brain now hyper aware, he ran across his bedroom, grabbing a gun from his closet and pulling on a shirt along the way. Clint ripped open his door and leapt into the hallway.

The screaming was definitely a woman, but not Natasha. Natasha hardly ever screamed, and if she did, it was more of a grunt than all out shrieking. Natasha was… he was fighting with Natasha, but she hadn't made an effort to apologize to him. She wouldn't even look at him. Why should he try to apologize if she was always trying to avoid him anyways and fighting with her always made him crazy because he didn't want to fight with her because she was his best friend and they were better together but he was thinking maybe he should just go back to the farm a few days early and this would all blow over except it wouldn't because Natasha'd hold the grudge and so would he and then it would turn into a big firestorm but he wouldn't apologize first, she'd said all those things about Alex- _Shut_ _up, Clint! Focus!_ He scolded himself for getting off track and kept running through options.

It couldn't be Pepper screaming either, she was away on a business trip in Tokyo with Morgan. That left one person: Alex.

Clint turned left down the hallway and ran two doors down to her room. Alex had taken the room next to Steve's and he wondered how he hadn't woken up. Then again, Steve had had to sleep in war zones, so he was probably didn't wake up very easily.

Clint reached Alex's room. The screaming was definitely coming from inside. He tried to open the door, the metal of the handle cold against his recently blanketed skin, but it was locked. Clint almost rammed into it and barged into her room, but he took a breath and calmly commanded FRIDAY to open the door. All of their rooms had electronic locks that FRIDAY was able to control.

"_I'm sorry, sir. I cannot unlock the door becaus_e _that_ _violates the privacy protocols set in place by Mr. Stark-"_

"I'll take it up with Tony later, FRIDAY, but right now I am ordering you to open the goddamn door!" Clint yelled. She couldn't be hurt. She wouldn't be hurt. He'd promised to keep her safe. She wouldn't be hurt. Over his dead body.

After a slight pause, he heard a click and pushed the door open. When he entered the room, Alex's screaming got louder, and Clint could see that she wasn't awake. Her pillow and a blanket had been shoved to the ground. Her other blanket was wrapped around her ankle, probably from kicking, and she was gripping her third blanket like a lifeline. Alex was rolling left and right, and Clint decided it was a miracle that she hadn't fallen off the bed yet. He was about to rush over when his eyes caught the silver glint from one of Alex's arrows clenched in her right hand and froze. Clint didn't think she would try to stab him with it, but it was evident that she was having a nightmare and wasn't herself.

After swinging the gun around the room and checking for any intruders as a behavioral precaution, Clint slunk, silent as a panther, toward Alex with caution, knowing that he should only try and wake her after the arrow was out of her grasp. He quietly clicked the safety on his gun and set it on her vanity. When he reached her bedside, he quickly pinned her wrist against the sheets, grabbed the weapon, and tossed it across the room. Instinctually, her other fist came up to punch Clint but he grabbed her arm before she reached his jaw. Suddenly, her screaming cut off, and Clint was caught off guard. While he was distracted, Alex kicked her foot up and smashed it into the side of his head. Clint grunted but didn't release his grip on her arms. He pulled Alex up to a sitting position, wrapping his arms around her like restraints and then putting his leg over hers, effectively trapping her. She tried to wriggle out, and Clint wasn't sure if she was awake yet.

"Alex? Alex. It's me. It's Clint!" He tried, talking straight into her ear. "You're okay. Whatever was happening in your dream isn't now. You're in the Avengers Compound. This is one of the safest buildings on Earth, remember? You are not being attacked, it's just me, look!" He leaned around in front of her face and she blinked. So, she was awake. Alex stopped struggling, seeming to realize who was holding her, but did not relax. "Are you… okay?" Clint asked. When she didn't respond, he took his leg off hers but left his arms where they were. Clint wasn't sure whether she felt smothered by his hug or if it comforted her. He hoped it was the latter. This was what Lila liked if she had a nightmare.

Clint started to rock back and forth, but only slightly. Alex still didn't say anything but did press her face into his shoulder. After a minute, Clint felt his that area of his shirt dampen. She was crying. Clint raised his hand and ran it down and up her back. That only made her cry harder.

Clint knew that the best thing was just to give her time. He had experienced dozens of these situations with Laura and with Natasha, and hell, even with Coulson a couple of times. No matter what he said or did, the sobs wouldn't cease until she was ready.

Just as he predicted, after a few minutes, Alex's heaving breaths quieted and she sniffed. She didn't move her face from his shoulder, and her voice cracked at the word 'hurt' when she asked, "Did I hurt you?"

Clint started to say, "No, no you didn't-" but she cut him off, raising her head to look at him and asked the question again, more forcefully.

"Did I hurt you? Don't lie."

Clint shrugged. "I mean, you kicked me in the head but it really wasn't that bad." His head was throbbing, actually, but he wouldn't be the one to tell her that. Alex groaned and dropped her eyes again, whispering, "I am so sorry." It seemed as if she might break into a thousand fragments. He had never seen her like this before. She always seemed so confident and strong and assertive all the time, but Clint supposed everyone had a broken side to them. Some were just better at hiding it.

"It's okay," Clint assured her. "You were having a nightmare, right? You couldn't help it."

Alex sighed. "I'm still sorry. I have… a lot of nightmares, but I don't usually scream loud enough to wake anyone." Clint frowned at that comment. In the short time she'd been living with them, how many scream inducing nightmares had the Avengers not noticed?

"I just…" She gently pulled her hands out of Clint's grip and dragged them down her face. "I'm sorry." She said for the third time.

"Stop saying sorry." Clint commanded, and she fell silent. Tears were still streaming down her face, not seeming to stop. He wondered what had induced this kind of reaction. "Did you want to…" Clint cleared his throat, "talk about your nightmares?"

"No." Alex immediately stated. "No," she repeated more firmly after a few seconds.

"Okay." Clint whispered. "That's okay." After a moment of silence, he asked, "Do you always sleep with an arrow in your hand?" He had to ask. He knew that Natasha always slept with a gun under her pillow, Tony with his suits nearby, and Clint himself kept a knife, but Alex was so young. She shouldn't have a reason to grip a weapon while she slept. Then again, Clint supposed, I was sleeping with a knife in my hand by fifteen. He shook his head to himself. But I was living on the road with a traveling carnival. It's different.

"I…" Alex started but trailed off.

"It's okay, I won't judge you." Clint assured her.

She stayed silent this time and he blinked. "Are you afraid we're going to hurt you?"

"No!" Alex jumped and turned to face Clint. "Of course not. It's not you."

It could just be that she was halfway to being an Avenger now, and she knew people would try to hurt her, but Clint was almost positive that this had to be more. Sleeping with a weapon usually spawned from deeply rooted trauma as far as he knew. "Then who is it?" Clint asked. When her mouth twisted he cocked an eyebrow. "Alex, _who _are you afraid of?"

"I told you I don't want to talk about it!" She snapped and turned away.

"Okay, I'm sorry, geez." He snapped back. He couldn't see Alex's face now but when she sniffed he immediately felt guilty. Clint sighed and leaned back on the bed, bracing his back against the headboard. _Here we go. _"Getting the soul infinity stone wasn't easy." He saw her twitch a little with interest at that, but she didn't turn around. "The public doesn't know the specifics of how everything went down two years ago, just about what Tony did. But there was a lot more that went on." He coughed. _Jesus_. There was already a lump in his throat. "When we figured out how to time travel- you know about that, right?" It took a few seconds, but Alex nodded. "When we figured out how to time travel we split into teams. Natasha and me paired up, obviously, who else would we have chosen? We've always been the dynamic duo, ya know. Strike Team Delta.

"Anyways, we were assigned to retrieve the soul stone, which we thought- or hoped- would be simple. Simple our asses. We got that stone, but at a great price." Clint swiped a hand across his face. "Basically, in return for the stone you had to sacrifice someone you loved by throwing them off this giant ass cliff. Natasha and I fought for who would have to die, and Nat won. She's always won." Clint had to stop for a moment before continuing wobbly. "I watched her hit the ground and her body twist and the blood… There was a lot of blood. But I couldn't look away. Obviously we got her back, but what I saw at Vormir is burned into my memory. I see her die almost every night. It used to torture me when I was trying to carry that by myself. I wouldn't talk about what'd happened for months, so Natasha told everyone. I was just trying to block it out." Clint sighed. "It was stupid. Because as soon as I talked to someone, everything felt better and they helped me learn how to handle it. And I know that if you're the same as me, talking about what's hurting you feels like giving up. Still, take this from the expert on not admitting how bad things are, talking about it can help. I'm here for you when you're ready, so just, ya know, remember that." He paused. "Jesus. I don't usually talk that much."

Alex snorted and finally turned around. "I had no idea any of that had ever happened."

Clint sighed. "Yeah we don't usually talk about it. It's too… difficult."

"Well, I appreciate you telling me. I still don't think I can talk about what… happens in my nightmares. Maybe someday. When that someday comes, I'll go to you." Alex smiled, hesitated and swallowed. "It's pretty late, or um, pretty early," She backtracked, glancing at the clock. "I didn't mean to wake you up, and I'm fine now, so you can go back to bed." She walked across the room, back to Clint again, to retrieve the pillow she'd thrown.

Clint cocked an eyebrow. Her left hand, which she was casually trying to hide, was still shaking violently, and Clint recognized fear in the irises of her eyes. "Are you going to go back to sleep?" He asked skeptically.

"Yeah, I think I will." She answered, staying composed and measured, but Clint didn't miss the way her voice cracked ever so slightly with the lie.

"No, you won't." Her eyes widened, vulnerable in the moonlight. "I've been a spy for years, Alex. You are a talented liar, but I know how to recognize a lie. You're scared to sleep, right? You can admit that. I'm not a great sleeper myself, so let's go do something. Would that be better than laying here or falling back asleep?" Clint asked.

Alex nodded, visibly relieved. Clint had guessed correctly that she had not wanted to be alone. "What do you want to do?"

Alex thought for a second. "I would say train in the gym, but I'm kind of tired so maybe watch a movie or something?" She suggested hesitatingly, fragile as butterfly in her confidence.

"Yeah, sure." Clint agreed. "Ever seen… Star Wars?"

Alex shook her head. "Nope."

Clint gasped, "How?"

"Never got around to it, I guess." She looked away.

He stood up, offering his hand to Alex. "Well that settles it, we're watching Episode IV: A New Hope." She took his hand and he pulled her up, the pair strolling towards the door. "It's the first Star Wars movie in the original trilogy. Star Wars is so awesome, it's an entire world! There's so much-"

Clint stopped gushing when Alex placed her hand on his arm, light as a feather. "Thank you," she whispered, barely audibly, avoiding his eyes.

He turned towards her, dropping his hands on her shoulders. "We're always here for you, Alex. You just have to ask. You need to know that." The corners of her mouth ticked up in saddest of smiles and she nodded, opening the door to her room to reveal the hallway. "Now, back to Star Wars."


	12. 12Chapter12

Hey, readers!! I feel like a may be a little late on this chapter, it's been a crazy week and I'm trying to get over a bad cold right now.

The moment is finally here where we get some more apprentices! See them a little in this chapter, more in upcoming ones! Hope you guys enjoy! Thank you to all who have favorited and followed so far.

Remember, please please _please _review!!!! I love reading them- questions, comments, and affirmations. Thanks!

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Not being able to predict what would happen and when it would was one of the things Alex despised about life. You make a plan and you try to stick to it but what does life do? Fucks you over. She rolled her eyes. The Avengers had told her that since she was the first apprentice, they'd not bring in anyone else for the time being just to see how things worked out with her. However, Tony had decided to bring in two boys, rather abruptly, rather than one, at the same time. She wasn't mad, per say, not at the team. She felt like she'd barely found her groove with them, and along came two boys that would be sure to ruin everything. Tony had told them they'd arrive in the next week.

Alex pulled back another arrow and released in the same second, watching it sail into the center of the target 90 meters away and sighed. It seemed her bow was the only constant she had. Archery was so completely natural to her at this point, she could get lost in her thoughts and her arrows would still end up in the bullseye. She drew back, pointer finger connecting to chin, pinkie against her neck, bowstring just touching the tip of her nose. While some archers would exhale when they released, Alex didn't even breathe at all. Sometimes when she was really in the zone, she would neglect oxygen for full minutes at a time. At first it was a habit, and her body would shake from oxygen deprivation. Now, it'd grown accustomed to it. Cass always called it a bad habit, but it helped Alex focus. Less variables.

"Alexandra." Clint Barton entered the shooting range, calling out to her in acknowledgement.

"Alex," she responded stiffly, never pausing in her shooting process. "I don't like Alexandra."

"Any reason why?"

"Uh… Alexandra is too fancy. I'm just Alex."

Clint smirked. "Okay, good morning 'Just Alex'." Though her laser focused gaze never dropped, Clint noticed her lips quirk. "You're up early."

After a few more shots, Alex dropped her bow and checked the clock. _5:19 A.M. _"Depends on your definition." Alex jerked her chin in the direction of the line of targets she'd just shot at. _Walk with me?_Clint nodded and they started down the range. "I was shooting, obviously, but why are you up?"

"Been up all night- all morning. Couldn't sleep." They shared a look of understanding. Ever since Clint had woken Alex from her nightmare, they'd been looking out for each other. There had been more than a few nights recently when they had both been too bothered to sleep so they would settle onto the couch and work through the Star Wars movies, during which Clint would never cease to be appalled that she hadn't seen. Next on the list was Star Wars: The Force Awakens. While watching, there was always a revolving carousel of Avengers. They'd often see Tony and Natasha, Steve didn't really like movies but he'd stroll through the commons every once in a while, same with Bruce. The only one that had never encountered their movie marathons was Thor, though his Herculean snores sometimes drifted down the hallway to join them.

"So," Clint started, "I came to tell you- be in the commons at 1:00. We're having a Nerf Gun War today."

Alex shot him a quizzical glance from where she stood pulling arrows. "Nerf Gun War?"

"You'll see." Clint's eyes twinkled. "In the meantime, how bout The Force Awakens for a warm up?"

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"The rules... are simple!" Tony projected.

"Wow." Alex whispered. "He's like… full on Hunger Games Gamemaker right now."

"I have not seen what you are referencing, but likely." Thor whispered back. The Avengers were all in the Commons, spread out over the space. It was 1:00 on the dot and Tony was busy explaining the oncoming Nerf Gun War.

"There is no physical contact. No punching, no kicking," Tony stared pointedly at Alex, "No stabbing."

"Oh, ha ha." Alex sneered back.

"You can steal weapons and ammo- if you dare. Anywhere in the compound is fair game, and kills don't matter. The goal is to be the last one standing. The winner doesn't have to do chores for a week!" Thor, Bruce, and Clint whooped at that. "There will be a two minute grace period during which there is no shooting, this is allowed so we can spread out. A healthy reminder- do not shoot my wife or daughter- or you'll be doing all the chores." Everyone laughed good heartedly. "If you hit the staff, meh don't worry about it. They all know what they're walking into. Once you are hit, you And finally…Choose… your… weapons!!!" Tony proclaimed, and Marcus whom Alex had met on her first day at the compound rolled out a cart full of Nerf Guns. "You can take as many as you like, but be smart about it." He gestured and everyone jumped up so Alex followed them.

There was a lot of different types of guns- tiny pistols, huge automatics, forearm sized ones- but Alex decided to stay true to her origins. She pushed past Thor and grabbed one big gun and a smaller one that would stick in the waistband of her pants without being visible. Finally, she snatched a Zombiestrike crossbow off the cart right before Clint did. He gasped in mock outrage. "That's my weapon!"

Alex pursed her lips, flipping the crossbow so she could see every side then gazed innocently at Clint . "I don't see your name on it."

Clint smirked, picking up a sniper gun from the cart without breaking eye contact. "You snake."

She just smiled, grabbed a pack of Nerf bullets, and ran toward her apartment, calling over her shoulder. "Well, I am a slytherin!"

"That's Harry Potter!" Thor smiled to himself. "I know that one."

"The grace period will start in one minute, you'll hear a siren, if you wondered!" Tony called after her, then shook his head. "That girl."

Alex whipped open one of her vanity drawers in the bathroom and pulled out a magenta hair ribbon, quickly tying it to either end of the largest automatic she'd chosen. She pulled the strap over her shoulder so it laid across her back, the gun pressed to her chest, and she pushed the palm sized-pistol in between the waistband of her leggings and her hip. Instead of placing the crossbow somewhere on her body, she kept it in her hands, ready for use.

Next, Alex dug out a small satchel from where she'd pushed it under her bed and loaded the ammo she'd grabbed into it. That went over her back too. Judging that she needed nothing else, Alex scurried out of her room, passing Steve who was coming out of his. They exchanged a look but she didn't stop. She knew where she was heading.

Alex could feel the end of the grace period looming at her back like a dark cloud down as she finally arrived at her destination. The main entrance hall would be the perfect place to hide out. At first she had dismissed it because there was nothing in the room to hide behind, and that's what she was counting on the others to do. She'd realized that because of the unique design of the walls in the hall, there was enough little notches for her to climb up and pull herself into the rafters. The rafters criss crossed across the ceiling and were just wide enough for a human foot to fit across. Alex loved being up high. When she'd swing from beams or trees Cass would discourage her, but she'd only fallen a few times, what was the big deal? Alex hoped the Avengers wouldn't shoot at her at all because they wouldn't want to make her lose her balance. The beams were the perfect vantage point. Alex was counting on the Avengers not looking up before they entered the hall.

Once she was crouched on a couple of beams close to the back wall in the shadows, adrenaline pumping, Alex propped the crossbow against her shoulder and waited. Half a minute later, a short, loud siren sounded. When Alex shifted at the sound, a rattling emanated from her bag and she frowned. She opened the bag, reached in, and pulled out a handful of marbles. Smiling, she thought, these could be useful.

It didn't take long before Bruce and Thor came sprinting into the hall. They're making a lot of noise, Alex smirked. She aimed the crossbow and fired two quick shots.

\--

"We could do so much together."

"Teaming up isn't a good idea, Thor. We're louder- _Sweet honey cakes_!" Bruce shouted abruptly. "Something just hit me!"

"From where?" Thor boomed. "I will take down this foe and-" A Nerf bullet smacked into his cheek. Thor caught the bullet after it bounced of his cheek and frowned. "I believe we have been eliminated!"

Bruce swiveled around, inspecting the room. "But how? There's no one in here." Bruce gazed down the hall in front of them and then the one behind them. If someone had shot them from the hall in front of them, they would have seen them, and there was no one behind the pair, they would have heard the footsteps. Bruce pressed his lips together, confused. Something smacked the floor next to him and he jumped, turning to see what is was. A marble. A marble had fallen from the ceiling. Oh. Ohhhh. "Thor," Bruce called, and Thor turned to look at him. "We forgot to check the ceiling. Barton, we know you're up there!"

The pair looked up, expecting to see Clint dangling from the beams. Instead, their eyes widened in surprise when they found his apprentice instead. Alex was sitting on the beam above them, swinging her legs and giggling. She waved. "Hey guys."

"Oh my god!" Bruce exclaimed. "How did you get up there?"

"I climbed up the wall." Alex stood up and started to pace back and forth across the beam and Bruce tensed.

"Get down from there! You could fall!" He demanded.

"Nah, I won't," She said passively, waving a hand. "I like high places. I've been climbing up as far as I could get since I was really young. Trees, beams, bridges, ya know, the works."

Thor turned to Bruce. "My god, she's a miniature version of Barton."

"Hopefully that's a compliment," She chuckled. "Go away, you're out and I don't want you blowing my cover." She retreated back into the shadowy corner of the room.

\--

Bruce and Thor strolled away, Thor grumbling about how "He never gets eliminated that fast", and that "He would have a rematch". Alex chuckled quietly.

It had at least 15 minutes that she'd been waiting in the rafters, and no one else had come through. There was no sounds coming from either hallways connected to the room. She had considered moving, but if no one would come through, she figured she'd hide until everyone else was out and win that way, so she stayed.

A few more minutes and she started to hear a shuffling. It wasn't coming from either of the hallways, she was sure, and it seemed as if the noise was in the room with her, though she couldn't see anyone. Alex whipped back and forth, confused, before her gaze settled on one of the vent covers across the room from her, also near the ceiling. She jumped, there was a pair of eyes staring at her from behind the slits of metal. They were a gray blue. "Clint? Is that you?"

They widened. "Alex? What are you doing?"

"What am I doing?- Are you climbing through the vents?"

She could almost see him shrugging and the smirk that definitely appeared on his face. "Yeah, it's kind of my thing. Smart move, climbing into the rafters."

"I know, I already shot Thor and Bruce."

"Bet Thor wasn't happy."

"Nope."

Clint shifted so his whole face was behind the grate, and this time she could see his grin clear as day. "I'm coming for you. You're going down."

Alex returned the smirk. "Only if you can catch me," She challenged. Once he started to shuffle away, Alex immediately climbed down the wall. She'd have to move positions and rooms, Clint would come looking for her. She checked left and right before rearranging the Nerf weapons on her body and darting down the left hall.

\--

Steve braced his gun against his shoulder, dropping into a crouch walk like he moved during his days in the army. He always stuck close the Residence during Nerf fights, and he'd already taken a trip back. There, Thor and Bruce were-surprisingly-already at the counter in the kitchen grumbling about how they'd lost so quickly. When Steve had asked how, they explained that Alex had ambushed them from above. Sneaky girl, Steve had thought- and now he was the one stalking her. He could see her in the hallway up ahead, and it seemed she hadn't noticed him. She was moving in a zigzag pattern, making it difficult for Steve to get a clear shot, which was probably what she wanted. Steve grunted in frustration as she kept darting out of the scope of his gun. He knew that if he shot and missed, it would alert her and she'd be in the wind. Her aim was as impeccable as Clint's, so she'd probably find some way to shoot him even as she fled.

Suddenly, her head whipped to the side and Steve knew that she'd seen him because she sprinted around a corner before he could even lower his gun. Good God, she's fast. He started after her, determined, but halted to a stop when he heard her scream. Scream. Steve blinked and dashed forward with more urgency. He whipped his gun back against his shoulder, forgetting that it was only a toy, tensing up right before he turned the corner. He'd halfway expected to see a team of mercenaries or aliens in the hallway, but it was only Alex, lying on the ground and clutching her ankle.

"Ow ow ow ow," He could hear her whispering. When she turned her head and saw Steve with his gun up, she threw out her hand toward him. "Wait! I-I hurt my ankle! Ow!"

Steve dropped his gun and rushed forward, kneeling beside where she lay. "What does it feel like? Broken, sprained, fractured?"

"Agh… broken? Maybe?" She panted.

"Can I check it out?" He asked, and she nodded. He gently pulled up her pant leg around her ankle and frowned. "I don't see any swelling, or irregularity, are you sure you hurt it?" Since Steve's back was to Alex's torso, he didn't see her grab her crossbow, or line it up to his body, or pull the trigger. He only felt the bullet smack into his back. Steve jumped at first, surprised, but his frown grew into a defeated smile when he realized, I've been played. He turned around, coming face to face with Alex's triumphant smirk. "Nothing's wrong with your ankle."

"Nope," She confirmed, jumping to her feet.

"You manipulative little actress." He marveled. "That was dirty."

"Well," She threw her hands out, walking backwards away from him. "Hate the sin, love the sinner, as they say. You're out." And just like that, she was gone.

\--

Alex smiled to herself. She'd just beat Captain America. She'd decided to head back towards the Residence to restock on ammo, and maybe drop the gun she had strapped across her back in her room. She could always come back for it later, but it served no purpose but extra weight.

After reaching her apartment and leaving the gun in her room, she stalked out toward the commons where she'd find more bullets. She already had more than enough, but it never hurt to be prepared. A little further down the hall and she started to hear a voice emanating from Steve's room that wasn't Steve's. It wasn't even someone she recognized. Alex tensed, straining to hear more.

"Are we sure someone doesn't live here already? This all looks a little small to be ..."

"To be what? Your room? Get off your high fuckin' horse, trust fund."

"Fuck you. Don't call me that."

It was definitely two males speaking, she determined. They sound on the young side. Don't like each other, based on their tones. She crept forward, deciding to open the door to the room, but never releasing her tight grip on the crossbow. When she did push open the door, both their heads snapped towards her. She'd been right, they were young- somewhere around nineteen and twenty. The younger one looked biracial- African American and Caucasian while the other seemed only white. They both had dark brown hair and dark eyes, though the younger one seemed vaguely familiar. He was definitely handsome, in a way the elder wasn't. He was attractive but there was something about his eyes- how sharp and cold they were mixed with the scowl scarring his mouth- that made him unattractive at the same time. It was this boy who spoke first.

"Yes?" He sighed, as if he was put out by her presence.

Alex blinked. "Excuse me?"

"What do you want?"

"What do I want? I-" She clammed up before she said 'I live here.' No one was supposed to know about the apprentice program yet. "What are your names?"

The younger one spoke this time. "Why should we tell you? Who are you?"

Alex frowned. "You probably shouldn't be here, you know. This is Captain America's bedroom."

"Really? How would you know that, huh?" The elder's eyes looked her up and down from her toes to the top of her head in classic asshole style before saying, "You seem a little-young-for him."

"Wow. Shut the fuck up."

The younger one stepped forward. "I'm sorry, is no one going to mention the Nerf crossbow in her hands? Like, seriously? I've heard the Avengers use Nerf for training exercises. Do you work with the Avengers?" His eyes were expectant, the other's annoyed.

"...No."

"You hesitated."

"No, I didn't."  
"Yes, you did. Are you employed at the Compound?"  
"No."

"Then who are you?"

The older one scoffed and rolled his eyes. "I don't have time for this. If this is Steve Rogers' room, it's not the room I'm looking for. I'm leaving."

He started forward but Alex stepped up to meet him and he scoffed again. She narrowed her eyes in response. "To go where?"

"Jesus fuck lay off!" He yelled, and tried to dodge Alex but she moved in front of him again. "Move or I'll make you, midget!" He stuck his hands out to shove her and Alex snapped, the aggressive motion acting as the last straw . She grabbed his right hand, twisting his arm backwards and up- effectively dropping the boy to his knees. He screamed as she drove a knee into his back.

The boy still standing stumbled back. "Holy- Why did you do that?"

"Never come at me like that," She hissed at the boy on the ground. "And 'midget'? That's a little too far, isn't it? An inaccurate assessment of me, seeing as your face is in the carpet." The boy grunted in anger.

Suddenly, a voice from outside the room yelled, "What the hell is happening in there?" Abruptly, Tony Stark appeared in the doorway. He looked at Alex, and then the boy on the ground, and then the boy with his hands in his hair standing in the corner, and back to Alex. "I swear, I leave two teenagers unsupervised for two minutes and- you know what? It's fine! Future parenting lessons." He seemed to focus more on the boy on the ground suddenly and stared at Alex. "Whatcha doin' there, Alley-Oop?"

She sighed in frustration. "Do you know who they are?"

"Um, yeah. They're my apprentices."

"But I thought they weren't supposed to be here until next week!"

"Change of plans." Tony gestured to the boy in the corner. "That's Sam…" He frowned at the other boy. "...And that's Tomen. Mind explaining why he's eating the floor?"  
Alex quickly released Tomen and backed away. He groaned and rolled to his side, sitting up and rubbing his shoulder. "I heard them talking, so I came in here and then they wouldn't tell me who they were-"

"Oh cry me a river, she wouldn't tell us who she was, either!" Sam said indignantly.

"-And then Tom went to shove me and I just- I'm sorry, Tony."

He shrugged. "Don't apologize to me."

Alex scowled and turned to face Tom. "Fine. I'm sorry that I hurt you after you provoked me."

"Alex," Tony scolded.

"Geez, okay, I'm sorry that I hurt you."  
Tom stood up, glaring back. "Don't flatter yourself. And it's Tomen, not Tom."

Tony stuck his hands out in a gesture for peace. "Okay everyone, let's take it down about nine notches. You two," He pointed to Tom and Sam, "Went to the wrong room. Your apartments are two doors down. You can fight it out over who gets which one. Go."

Tom swiftly exited, scoffing as he went. Sam followed, but stopped in the doorway and turned to look at Alex. "So are you an apprentice too?"

She nodded. "Clint Barton's." He stared for a second longer and left. Alex sighed, breathing out the tension in her body. "Do you think you could have told me that they would be here? Today?"

"I didn't know they'd arrive today unil today," Tony shrugged. "Luckily, Widow eliminated me and I got back to the Commons right as they did. I told them where their rooms were, but they obviously didn't follow my directions." Tony sighed. "I hope they were the right choices-" Suddenly he noticed Alex had moved from beside him to standing in front of Cap's windows. She had her feet shoulder width apart and her fingertips posing lightly against the glass adjacent to her hips. Her eyes were closed which Tony could see in her reflection as if she was trying to center herself. He watched as she tried to force her mouth into a smile and as her lips failed her twice. "...Alex? Are you alright?"

At the sound of his voice, she turned quickly, maintaining uncomfortable eye contact. The painted on smile that didn't reach her eyes manifested strongly now. "Of course. The boys just surprised me. I'm fine."

"Are you sure. You seem a little… shaky."

"I'm fine, Tony." She insisted. She stared for a second longer and then seemed to purposely look anywhere but at him. "I've got to get back to the fight. I haven't been eliminated yet." She rushed out the door, stopping right behind Tony. "I'll see you later." The plastic smile still going strong, Tony watched until she ran out of sight. He frowned and quietly turned to close Cap's door, jumping when he turned around and found Steve right in front of him. Tony dramatically laid a hand over his heart. "Geez, you'll scare a man to death one of these days. You're so… muscley yet so silent. Don't know how ya do it."

The man smiled, his voice remaining as serious as ever. "Is everything okay? I heard yelling."

"S'all just peachy." Tony quipped before dropping to Steve's level. "But, while I have you, there is something I should ask you." When Steve nodded, Tony asked, "Does-how do I say this?- Does Alex ever give you… strange vibes?"

Steve raised an eyebrow. "Elaborate."

"Like, her behaviors. How she acts." The two men started to stroll down the hall.

"I mean. Today she faked an injury and then shot me in the back when I went to help her. She was definitely playing the game, and it was a smart move, but on the other hand it was really manipulative. Rubs me a little wrong. Also how jumpy she is. We've all noticed it. It's not exactly a normal resting state for a girl her age."

"Yes!" Tony gesticulated with his hands, "That's what I was getting to. There's just something weird about her-" Steve made a face and Tony backtracked. "Okay, I'm not saying that it's bad. I'm just saying that something is… off."

Steve sighed. "You- you're right. If you haven't talked to Barton yet, don't. He practically bit Natasha's head off the other day when she raised the same concerns. Got really defensive."

Tony snorted. "Yeah, there's no way I'd ever bring this up to Clint. I'll have to poke around myself first. She's hiding something from us, something significant. And I'm going to find out what."


	13. 13Chapter13

Hey people! School and musical rehearsal and homework have been keeping me super busy, and I'm sorry I haven't uploaded in a while. Here's the next chapter. Reviews are greatly appreciated. Thank you to everyone who's sticking with me!

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**Samuel Synde/Sam**:

Son of multi million dollar tech moguls- Jeannie and Sallinger Synde

Born in Denver, Colorado, has family homes in New York, Toronto, Port Elizabeth, Los Angeles, Jamaica, and Cardiff

18 years old

Massive trust fund

Parents are alive

In a bad car crash after the Blip

Four different social media accounts at one point but all are deleted now

Goes through relationships like tissues

Sexual identification: Bisexual- has had boyfriends and girlfriends

Arrested once on DUI and underage driving charges, three years ago in 2022, bailed out

Biracial- mother is Jamaican, father is Welsh, Sam is American born

**Tomen Ballow/Tom**

Born and raised in Sacramento, California

No social media presence

Uses people's full names for some reason?

Family situation not apparent?

Has completed high school, but didn't move out of hometown

20 years old

No criminal record

Graduated early- all seniors were automatically passed halfway through the year after the death of a teacher and student at his high school

Nationality is American but ethnicity is unknown

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Alex wiped the sweat off of her brow. The sun beams were starting to get especially hot at the end of May. The river she sat next to flowed seamlessly over every rock, the breeze pushing it swiftly onward. Beyond the river, the forest had surged to life, greenery sprouting up even in the tiniest cracks of dirt. The trees seemed to dance, branches shifting and the newborn leaves dancing through the air. It was all very peaceful- Tony had made sure that during the reconstruction of the compound, no wildlife was unnecessarily harmed, which was the reason Alex had come to this area. It reminded her of home, where she lived in the woods in Montana.

She did still have her laptop with her, though, as she decided she'd need to research the new arrivals at the Compound. She knew Sam had looked familiar- she'd seen him featured in the tabloids at the store too many times. But Tom- according to the internet, he was virtually non-existent. Alex had gone down so many rabbit holes in the last two hours just to find what she had. She would have just asked them about their lives, but the two boys had been rather icy towards her in the two days they'd lived down the hall from her, probably still angry about their meeting. Alex couldn't blame them. Tom had been extremely rude, but that shouldn't have been an excuse to physically attack him. She sighed. _So much for a good first impression_. Still, they'd have to loosen up if they were to fight on the same team someday.

Suddenly, her ears picked up a soft stomping coming from behind her and she turned swiftly, grass ripping out from underneath her shifting form. It was only Sam, marching towards her with a sour lip. She cursed inwardly at the screen displaying all of his personal information in front of her and turned back around, slowly closing the lid. Nonetheless, when they made eye contact, she could see that he knew what she'd been doing. "Hi, Sam."

"Alex." He nodded, and then hesitated. "Were you… googling me?"

"Yes," She shrugged. No point in trying to deny it now. "I went a little deeper than just an internet search. I knew you looked familiar."

"Yes, well," His lips pressed even tighter, like he had sucked on a lemon. "I was surprised that you didn't recognize me right away."  
"Should I have?" Alex questioned in response, raising an eyebrow. Was he annoyed that she hadn't realized who he was?

"I… I suppose not," He amended after a few seconds. "Anyways, Mr. Stark wanted me to come out here and find you. Apparently they do this little tradition thing where when it gets warm enough, they all swim in the outdoor pool together for the first time of the year. They want us to be there."

Alex's appearance didn't change in the slightest, minus her left fist tightening around a handful of grass. On the inside, however, her brain shrieked at the word, "pool". With the nightmares and the fear and what had… what had happened… when… She had promised herself that she'd never get in a pool again. Never again. She took a quick breath. "Do they expect us to swim?"

Sam made another face. "I don't know, it's not like they're gonna force you. What kinda question is that anyways?"

Alex released the fistful of grass, trying to ignore how her hand still shook. "Interrogatory," She smirked.

Sam smirked back. "Wow, so clever. Can we go?"

Alex sighed and picked up her computer, pushing herself up. She stood almost a head shorter than him, he had to be at least 6'1'', so she had to physically turn her head up to look him in the eye. It was a couple of minutes walk back to the compound, and they spent the first in awkward silence. Alex tried to think of something to say, but came up empty. Luckily, Sam picked up the conversation."'Goes through relationships like tissues'. Seriously?"

Alex was momentarily confused before she realized he had read it off her screen. She shrugged. "You have dated a lot of people. I'm just noting that."

"And why is that important? Where'd you find that information? The internet?" He scoffed. "Don't believe everything you read. You could have just asked me about myself if you really wanted to know."

Alex raised an eyebrow. "You haven't exactly been open."

"Yeah, I'm not really that social. Don't take it personally."

"Sure, I won't take offense that you've been physically avoiding me." Sam had no answer to that claim, instead remaining silent. "So you admit it then? You were avoiding me." He still said nothing, and Alex sighed. "Look, I said I was sorry about what happened when we met. Multiple times. Tom was coming at me and I freaked out, I didn't know who you two were."

"But he didn't even touch you before you attacked him," Sam argued.

"Occupational hazard," Alex shrugged.

Sam stopped and turned to face her. "Don't give me that bullshit. You aren't even an Avenger yet, and you've only lived with them for what- two months? Right, occupational hazard my ass."

Alex frowned, angry. "I don't know what you want me to say, Sam."

He crossed his arms. "Everyone's noticed it, you know. How jumpy you are. I haven't been talking to you, but I've been in the same room with you long enough to know that every time someone comes up behind you or touches you and you're not expecting it, you tense or jump or clench your fist. Even now, when I walked up behind you you spun around really fast. So fast that it seemed like you thought someone was going to try and hurt you. And as soon as you realize who it is, you're fine. That's not normal." Alex pressed her lips together and he narrowed his eyes. "What's wrong with you?"

"Excuse me?" Alex exclaimed, abruptly breaking out of her silence. "What's wrong with me? What kind of question is that? You made those observations, and they're accurate, I am jumpy, but you don't get to ask me what's wrong with me!" Alex turned on her heel, yelling over her shoulder. "If anyone's screwed up, it's you, Mr. DUI!"

"Wow, just walk away, so mature!" He yelled after her, sneering.

"That's rich, coming from you!" She snarled back. "Ugh!" She mumbled to herself, stomping across the grass. My future team member, everyone. Off to a great frickin' start. The sun that felt comforting a few minutes ago now shone so brightly in her eyes it was blinding. Glancing up in disgust, she threw a hand over her eyes as a shade and caught a glance of Clint Barton. He was standing in the window of the Compound, two levels up, watching her. She stared for a moment and then frowned. He just shook his head, and Alex knew he had seen everything that'd just gone down. She let out another frustrated grunt and marched into the Compound.

\--

Once Alex had a swimsuit on and a sundress over it, she opened the door of her apartment with a swish and turned the corner sharply, still steaming. She had thought it would be Tom she'd have to worry about detesting, but she guessed both of them were assholes after her previous interaction with Sam. She jumped as the door she was walking by flew open and Tom stepped out. "Hi, Tom."

Tom smiled, but not kindly. Disconcertingly. He stuck two fingers in his mouth and whistled loudly. "Lookin' good."

Alex raised her eyebrow, not impressed, but hoping to find sincerity in his eyes. Instead, they were cold, hard, and mean. She frowned, already pissed off. "I don't remember asking for your opinion."

"And I don't remember asking for permission to tell you it," He smirked.

Alex scoffed and hurried away nonchalantly, calling over her shoulder. "Good morning to you too." Her chest tightened as the stress pressing on her heart extended further. She'd realized from the moment she'd met them that Sam and Tom were exactly the kind of people she chose to avoid. Abrasive, unsympathetic, radiating sociopathic vibes- they'd be fun to live with. The interactions with them already had put a damper on her Saturday, and it wasn't even noon yet. Turning the corner she remembered they wanted her to swim. In a pool. She just didn't know if she could after-

Suddenly, she slammed into something and a pair of hands darted out to steady her, but she shot back from the contact. She bumped into the wall next to her, breathing heavily. She hadn't even hit whatever she'd hit very hard, but she'd been walking so fast and harsh that the impact had thrown her off course. Alex abruptly realized there was a person in front of her and looked up, straight into the eyes of Clint Barton. He was dressed in swim trunks and a T-shirt, seemingly also headed down to the pool. At first he chuckled. "Hey, how's it goin' speedy?" When Alex didn't respond and he took a closer look at her clenched fists and the way she was using the wall for support his face tightened. "What's wrong, what happened?" His gaze tightened further. "What did he do to you?"

Alex pushed herself off the wall quickly when she saw a dangerous expression appear on his face, as if he could kill whoever had hurt her. "What? He didn't-I'm fine," She assured him. After his face didn't change, she repeated, "I'm fine, Clint." Finally, some softness flooded back into his clenched jaw, though his eyes never dropped their questions. "Just had a… um, rough start to the morning I guess."

He raised an eyebrow. "I saw. What were you and Sam talking about?" He nodded his chin in the direction Alex was heading originally and they walked together.

"Nothing really," She replied. "It was stupid. He told me something about myself that I just… didn't want to hear. He got mad, I got mad, you know." Clint grunted in understanding, and they were silent for a moment. Eventually, she dragged some courage out of the bottom of her heart to ask him. "Um… Hey Clint?" He turned his head to look at her, nodding so she'd go on. "Do you… I mean, have you noticed how jumpy and paranoid I am? Do you think I am? Do you think it's weird?"

Clint huffed quickly, his voice raising with his response. "Why would you ask that? Did someone say something to you?" He hissed, "Was it Natasha?"

She quirked an eyebrow, confused expression pushing her eyebrows together. "What?- No. Why would she-" Alex stopped in the middle of her sentence, considering, before continuing. "Oh, I get it. That's why you two are fighting."

It was Clint's turn to quirk an eyebrow. "What?"

"She said something about me, right? Something like what I just brought up and then you got mad." She pursed her lips for a second and then her eyes widened in realization. "Oh! After I did my first training simulation! That's when it started. You were all pissed off when you came downstairs to get me, but I didn't want to ask why."

"Who said we were fighting?" Clint frowned.

Alex laughed unironically. "Oh, you're cute. You know, I've only known you all for a month and a half, but it's pretty obvious when you and her are in the middle of a spat. This whole place," She gestured with her arms, "literally feels colder. It's a lot less fun, too. You guys are wild, so when you don't talk it's just… bleh." She shrugged. "Don't fight for my sake."

Clint shook his head. "How do you do that?"

"Do what?" She asked innocently.

"Manage to figure out the entire situation from one sentence. I just don't understand it."

"Maybe I'm just a lucky guesser." She grinned mischievously. "You do it all the time!"

"True, but I'm a spy with years of training, so."

Alex smiled at that, but Clint remained questioning. When she saw he wasn't joking her eyes hardened. "I'm an analytical person, Clint. I like puzzles. I don't know what kind of answer you expect." She turned away and kept walking. Clint clenched his jaw, but followed, deciding to drop the topic.

Clint threw the towel that he was holding over his shoulder and dove headfirst into the pool. The towel landed on a beach recliner the moment he hit the water. He felt his fingertips bounce off the bottom of the pool as his body shot seamlessly deeper. He positioned himself to glide upwards, but didn't push off the ground, opting to float slowly upwards instead. The apprentices fighting already. If Clint had had air to breathe out, he would have sighed. He'd hoped, of course, as all of them had, that Alex, Sam and Tomen would hit it off. That didn't seem to be the case. Sam and Alex hadn't talked to each other since they'd met except for their previous conversation, and Tomen had been very reclusive. Hell, Clint hadn't heard the kid talk more than a few times and he'd spent the entire day in his apartment yesterday. Sam was almost the same, but he'd stuck himself to Tony's side like a remora and spent the entire three days in Lab Seven with him. Apparently, Tony's 'invention marathon' tradition was familiar to his apprentice, too. The whole thing frustrated Clint because Alex had always been so open and charismatic from the beginning. She'd very naturally fit into their team, and it had never occurred to him that other apprentices could be different.

His head broke the surface, and Natasha smiled at him despite their ongoing feud once he blinked the liquid out of his eyes. Her and Tony were just sauntering outside in their swimwear. He turned back to where he had jumped in and Alex was sitting on the recliner next to his towel. He jerked his head toward the water, calling, "Come on in!"

She shook her head. "Nah, I'm good. Maybe later." Clint frowned and made puppy dog eyes but she just shook her head again and leaned back on the chair in finality. Then, suddenly, the water next to him exploded. He jerked away, noticing the fiery red hair that followed the splash a second later and grinned. Summer was back, the sun was shining. Everything would work itself out.

A half hour later, all Avengers, apprentices, and family were in or around the pool. Thor's hair had been going back and forth from short to long every since that fateful forced haircut eight years ago. It was much easier to manage when it was cropped to his head, but it was difficult to abandon his signature locks for too long. Currently, strands were swirling around his head in the water, and when he came up for air they plastered themselves to his face. He pushed them away but was immediately enveloped in a spray of water from little Morgan.

Thor sputtered and Morgan giggled at him. "Throw me!" He smiled. So she did remember their tradition. He swam closer to the little girl, picked her up, and tossed all 62 pounds of her across the pool. She landed with a cannonball right next to Tony and Pepper, who were sipping margaritas. They both knocked them over when Morgan came shooting, and Thor guffawed at their panic. Tony glanced over at Thor and gave him an affectionate evil eye.

It pleased Thor immensely to observe his makeshift family all in one place, enjoying each other's company. They'd been spread thin lately, with a series of small though draining missions and that one huge, dark one a few weeks prior. He would never look back on that day fondly, but Alex's spaghetti that night had been some of the best he'd ever tasted, so he'd supposed it hadn't been all bad.

Barton and Romanoff were racing each other back and forth across the pool and he hadn't seen them come up for air in at least a few minutes. Bruce was busy reinstalling the diving board, and Steve was helping. Sam sat on the steps of the pool, halfway in the water, lounging awkwardly. He hadn't quite fallen naturally into his apprenticeship like Alex had yet. Thor couldn't spot the other two teenagers so he did a 180 and found Alex stretched out on a recliner. Tom was talking to her. She shook her head 'no' three times and finally he stuck out his hand. Thor nonchalantly moved closer to the pair so he could hear what they were saying.

Alex gazed at the boy's hand and seemingly repeated, "I don't swim, Tom."

He smirked. "You never learned how?"

She frowned. "No, I know how, I just-"

"C'mon, it's a tradition! You have to swim! Let's go!" Before she could protest, Tomen grabbed her wrist and pulled her out of her chair and towards the edge of the pool. Thor took notice to the way she subtly strained against his grasp, trying to plant her feet in a non-obvious way. So then, she definitely hates swimming or something about it.

Alex finally stopped right before Tomen dragged her down with him, ripping her wrist out of his grip. "I don't want to, Tom!" Thor frowned when he detected the thinly veiled panic in her voice and started forward to ward Tomen off, but he just smiled and pushed her in, jumping in after her. What followed was a blood curdling scream from the girl. A chill your bones scream. It was cut off abruptly when she hit the water and nobody else seemed to notice. He watched her regain control of herself underwater and shoot up to the surface, breathing in small gasps. She was a strong swimmer, he realized as she stroked quickly to the side of the pool. Why then, did she seem so afraid?

Thor followed after her and when he reached the recliner she had returned to, she was shivering. He slowed his approach as her head snapped up to look at him. "Young Alex… are you alright?"

She swallowed. "I'm fine." Her answer was cracked from her teeth chattering, and Thor grabbed a towel off of the ground next to him. He wrapped it around her shoulders and she gratefully gathered it tighter around her. It was a fairly warm day, but it seemed the shock of feeling the pool water and the panic afterwards had frozen her. Thor gently took to sitting on the pavement in front of her, as the single recliner would not hold both of their weight. He hesitated for a moment, then asked outright. "Why are you frightened of the pool?"

Her eyes widened a fraction, and then she looked away. "I don't know what you-"

"You can tell me anything." He assured her quickly, realizing she was already closing herself off. "I do not gossip. That's more Stark's territory."

She scoffed, amused but too distracted to actually laugh. She was staring into the distance as if reliving a memory, eyes becoming more bloodshot with each second. Soon, the water in her eyes was no longer from the pool. Finally, she turned back to him and sighed. "I just… Something happened when I was younger. I was swimming and then I almost drowned- or I did-" Her voice broke and she swallowed hard. "I was actually dead for a few minutes before they revived me. I was lucky there weren't any long term effects." She was silent for another moment. "I can't swim in pools anymore. I can't forget that memory." Thor nodded in understanding and she continued. "So when Tom started dragging me towards the water I freaked. I'm sorry."

"No, don't be sorry!" Thor proclaimed. "You have no reason to be so! You could have confessed to us what you have gone through. We would have left you alone."

She dragged her hands down her face. "Ugh, yeah I guess I know that. It's just so embarrassing."

"Why?" Thor was confused. A near death experience could be embarrassing?

"Because, like," She groaned. "I can shoot three arrows at once and hit the bullseyes but I have a fear of pools?" She hung her head. "It's pathetic."

"Not so," Thor insisted. "Do you know what Mr. Clint Barton is afraid of? Frying pans."

Alex's head jerked up, face immediately brightening. "No! Liar!"

Thor stuck out his hands. "I swear on Odin. Apparently, a villain once injured him with one on a mission, and now he won't even touch them."

She laughed. "I guess that… that does make me feel a little bit better." Alex looked down and smiled, seemingly to herself for a moment before staring back at him. "Thank you, Thor. I'm okay." He made a funny face and she giggled. "No, really, I'm okay! Go have fun."

Thor gazed toward the other end of the pool, where his comrades were now engaged in an epic splash fight. They all sputtered, spitting water, but howled with laughter despite it. He grinned and stood up, ready to join the fight, but hesitated. He looked down at Alex. "Why don't you come down and sit by us?" When he saw the immediate defense spring up in her face, he quickly added, "You don't have to descend into the water! But, everyone is communing at the other end, so it only makes sense that you would join us." She pressed her lips together but shrugged finally. She stood and Thor stuck his arm out in a formally goofy way. Alex chuckled, but took it and the pair made their way to their friends.


	14. 14Chapter14

Here's the next chapter! Thank you to everyone who has favorited and followed, and thank you to duskydragons for those reviews! I love reading them. I hope everyone is staying safe during this difficult time and I hope you enjoy the next chapter!

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Natasha sat with her back against a window in her apartment, poring through article after article on her daily news feed. She'd started reading half an hour earlier and fell down a rabbit hole- she'd started with politics and was now learning how the indigionus people of the Andes cooked hamsters for food. She didn't even know how she had ended up there. She was mostly just trying to drown her brain in random information- it was the fourth day of her and Clint not talking and she was pretending that it didn't bother her, but she missed her best friend. Clint hadn't made any moves to reconcile yet, so neither had she.

Suddenly, there was a knock at her door and she looked up. It was Clint, of course. "Speak of the devil," Natasha muttered, and Clint raised an eyebrow in question. "Never mind," She amended.

He walked in tentatively, stopping in the middle of the room awkwardly. "You know," he said, "Those were the first words that you've said to me in four days. I wasn't sure if you'd actually let me in." Natasha just stared at him blankly. He huffed and crossed his arms stubbornly. "Okay fine. If you're going to make me say it, I will. I'm sorry."

Natasha didn't move, instead raising her eyebrow as if to say, "For what?"

Clint frowned, obviously miffed. "You're a piece of work. I'm sorry for biting your head off the other day in the gym bay. I shouldn't have defended my apprentice-"

"Clint-"

"Yeah yeah, nevermind! I shouldn't have yelled at you like that. You were just trying to," He paused. "Raise concerns. And I overreacted."

"Thank you." Natasha nodded. "I know apologizing for you is like stabbing a needle into your eye and then getting run over by a train, so I appreciate it."

He stayed silent for a moment, gazed around her room, and then stuck his arms out. "So we good now?"

"Yes," Natasha smiled. She patted the ground next to her and Clint smiled back. He walked over and sat down next to her, groaning as he lowered himself to the floor. Natasha smirked. "You're getting old."

He shot her a look. "Like you're not." He groaned again as he settled down. "I missed ya."

"Same."

"So… the fear tests are today."

Natasha smiled. She always appreciated how they could fall right back into the groove of things after a disagreement, that they didn't have to go through that awkward period of partly avoiding each other so they didn't have to try and carry a conversation afterwards. "I can't believe it's been four months since Alex has gotten here."

"Yeah… I know you have your concerns about her, but I really think that she's going to make an excellent Avenger, Nat."

Natasha was about to argue, but when she turned and recognized the pure sincerity drawn across his face, she dropped it. "Hopefully."

"You don't think it's too early for the tests, do you? I mean, the boys have only been here for one month, and we don't know that much about them yet."

"We don't know who Alex, either. We know her on paper, not personally though. She won't tell us anything. Maybe the test will force something out."

Clint shifted uncomfortably. "The test is honestly kind of traumatizing. I know it's necessary, for them to accurately recognize the things that they fear the most, but I still hate doing it to these kids."

"I know." Natasha rested her head on his shoulder. "But we've been through some real shit, that test preys on it every time we do it, but we're still okay."

"Okay? Debatable. Functional? Also debatable."

Natasha snorted quietly. "We're alive." Clint chuckled and they joined in harmonious laughter together, glad to be back in each other's company.

\--

Alex wiped her mouth and let a few tears drop into the toilet bowl before letting her face go blank again. She flushed the toilet, pulled herself up and stuck her mouth under the sink faucet, relishing in the water that washed away the taste of puke in her mouth. Standing up, she braced herself against the counter and looked straight at herself in the mirror. She never dropped the blank expression. She found that if she didn't smile, if she didn't frown, it was easier not to cry.

"Breathe," She inhaled, "Out." she exhaled. Her anxiety wasn't magically cured by breathing exercises, but everyone she'd talked to about it had told her to take deep breaths, so she did anyways. She did actually forget to breathe sometimes, so she guessed it was useful advice anyways.

"FRIDAY," She whispered, "Where is Clint?"

"Ms. Romanoff's apartment, ma'am."

A smile tugged at Alex's lips. "Guess they made up." She took one last look at herself in the mirror before leaving her apartment to head for Natasha's.

\--

Sam opened the fridge. He really wasn't in the mood for a 'fear test' as they called it- he hadn't been granted very much sleep last night. He already knew what the test would show him, and he didn't want to see it. He grabbed a Monster energy drink. The Avengers' staff had started buying them specifically for him, since he didn't like RedBull. Tony argued that they tasted exactly the same, but Sam preferred the Monster.

He cracked the can open and glanced at the clock. Fifteen minutes until his test. He'd be going first, Alex second, and Tomen third. He wasn't all that worried about the actual test, just what would happen after. The main thing was, he didn't want to cry.

He scoffed. Crying. So annoying. It makes him look weak, and he's not. Besides, if there's anyone he'd prefer not to break down in front of, it was the Avengers. They were, supposedly, the strongest beings on Earth, and he guessed that's what he aspired to now. Crying would completely ruin the calculated, intelligent, image he was trying to curate. I don't want to cry in front of Alex, either. He frowned.

She still looked at him as if he were a dick, which was fair, because he still made bitchy expressions at her. The three times they had talked, the conversations had ended in screaming matches. That had been early on, maybe in the first few weeks, and they'd noticed the fighting annoyed the Avengers. As a result, they stopped speaking altogether. Problem solved. The two were just so different- in ideals, in interests, everything. Sam peered at the clock again. Twelve minutes until his test.

\--

Tomen's mother had abandoned him, and his dad was a druggie, so the psychologists would say that his greatest fear was probably either abandonment or drug addiction. Tom didn't agree. If he developed a dependence on drugs, so be it. If his non-existent friends and/or family left him, whoop-de-doo. He didn't need the fear test to tell him what he was most scared of, there wasn't actually much that freaked him out. He actually had no idea what his greatest fear was.

Maybe being stuck in a room with any politician trying to get him to vote for them. God, he hated their bullshit. Not sure why. It's just that none of it seemed real- their speeches or their rallies or their promises. He hadn't grown up around politicians so it was kind of a random fear, but it was there nonetheless. More like an annoyance.

He wasn't even sure why Tony Stark had chosen him for this apprenticeship anyways, it wasn't like he was extraordinary in any aspect. He had a brilliant mind, but rules were hard and his grades reflected that weakness. He never saw the point of completing assignments on things he knew he wouldn't use, or proving he knew something that he'd already figured out for himself two grades earlier.

He made it through high school, but no colleges would take him after that. On a whim, he entered an invention contest and won, apparently the prize was a scholarship to MIT's freshman class of 2026. He hadn't even know. He guessed that was what had caught Stark's attention.

The Avengers were all nice enough, but he didn't have any sort of relationships with any of them at the moment. He didn't really do 'personal connections'. Avoided them, even. As for the other apprentices, Sam and him had managed to carry a conversation once or twice a week. They seemed one in the same, Sam had many of the same interests, the only difference was Sam was dumb fucking rich. Alex, however, he hated. He didn't like being attacked before he'd even met her and couldn't move past that. Besides their introduction, she was a people pleaser, always trying to make everyone happy and it bugged the hell out of him. Plus, she called him Tom, and his name was Tomen. He'd retaliate by calling her Alexandra, which she loathed for some reason. They'd been physically avoiding each other for a month.

Tomen slammed his phone down on his bed table and marched out of the room, heading to the testing bay. He had nine minutes to find his way there before the tests.

\--

Alex walked up to Natasha's door, glared at her shaking hands, and willed them to calm. After she felt she had a handle on herself, she raised her hand and knocked.

Natasha's voice sounded from inside. "Who is it?"

"Alex," She called back.

"Come on in," Natasha replied.

Alex pushed open the door, finding Natasha and Clint sitting on the floor, backs against the windows across the room. "I'm not interrupting anything, am I?"

"Nah, no," Clint waved the question off with his hand. "Whatcha need?"

"I was wondering if I could talk to you about something quick?"

"Yeah, sure." He turned to Natasha. "I'll meet you in the testing bay?"

Natasha nodded and grinned devilishly. "See you in a minute."

Clint's pleasant expression dropped. "Please. Don't say that."

Natasha's smile persisted. "I know, I know, I'm sorry…" She patted him on the shoulder and nodded at Alex. "You two get out of here, I'm going to change out of my night clothes." Clint and Alex nodded back and walked out of the room, continuing down the hallway toward the testing bay. She had eight minutes to convince Clint to let her out of the fear test.

"So, what'd you want to talk about?" Clint started.

"Is the fear test mandatory?" Alex asked.

"What? Uh, yeah, I guess so. We've all done it as part of our training."

"But what if I already know what my greatest fear is? Is this simulation really necessary?" She persisted.

"You may think you know, but sometimes it's something entirely different. It's useful to know for sure."

"No, you're not understanding. I know what it is, for sure, and I don't want to voluntarily put myself through it. I can't. I thought I could, which is why I didn't bring this up until now, but I can't."

Clint stopped, sighing, and put his hands lightly on Alex's arms to turn her towards him. "Listen, Allie, whatever's going to be in that simulation can't hurt you. It's just particles gathered together from the images in your brain. They're not solid, they're not alive, they're just pictures. You can do it, because all of us have done it, and we're alright. The test can't hurt you."

"Yeah, maybe not physically!" She exclaimed. "I'm thinking more mentally. What this could do to me mentally." She paused then continued quietly. "I already have nightmares, I don't want to have even more because of this."

"You're gonna be okay." Clint bit the inside of his cheek. "Look, if you're self conscious about us seeing what the simulation will show you, it's completely private, we can't see-"

"That's not what-" Alex bit her lip and looked away. "I am asking you, please, please, don't make me do this."

Clint sighed. "Alex, c'mon. I don't want to say no, but all of us have done it, and the boys are going to do it, don't you think it's a little unfair if you get to skip? C'mon." She peered at the wall behind his head intently, as if trying to look anywhere but at him. Her eyes were on the verge of tears, and his mouth twisted. He hated this. Speaking softly, he replied. "I'm sorry, but unless you can give me a clear reason why I should let you out of this, you're doing it."

She finally looked back at him, stubborn sadness emanating from every feature. She shook her head a little bit, and then her face suddenly went completely blank. "Fine." She turned to keep walking, but Clint grabbed her arm and she jerked away, almost involuntarily. "Yeah, I'll be fine."

Clint put his hands up where she could see them. What was it with her and other people touching her? "Look, it's not that bad. It's a little shocking, but it's over fast, alright?"

"Alright. Let's go. We'll be late." Alex strode away quickly, and Clint had to jog a little to keep up. They walked the rest of the way to the Testing Bay in silence.

\--

It took a lot to make Clint feel awkward, but in that moment, he felt more awkward then he had in years. Everyone was standing in the testing bay as Tony explained the test, Clint and Alex beside each other. She wouldn't look at him, and she was standing slightly further away than natural. He had crossed his arms defiantly, on defense against something- he didn't even know what. Alex was acting like he was the villain, but what was he supposed to have done? If she would have skipped it, that would have been unfair to everyone else involved. Besides, no one had ever wanted to do the fear test, so she wasn't any different than anyone involved. He glowered internally and turned his attention to Tony.

"For those of you who don't know," Tony nodded to Alex, Sam, and Tomen, "The 'C.A.F.' test, or the 'Cumulative Assessment of Fear'- we just call it the fear test- is an assessment invented by SHIELD to scan the participant's brain and analyze what scares them most. It only takes a second, and after that, you'll sit in that chair." Tony pointed to a reclined chair behind the glass in front of them, similar to one that would be in a dentist's office. "There'll be restraints that come out and encircle your wrists, just as a precaution. After you're strapped in, the small cameras in the room will project a simulation of whatever your brain scan yielded." Tony stuck out his hands. "S'as simple as that."

Alex swallowed and the boys shifted uncomfortably. Tony could tell they were nervous, and the rest of the team picked up on it too. Steve said, "Don't worry, it's really not that bad," at the same time that Tony sighed, "Not gonna lie to you, it's pretty rough." All three teens grimaced, and Steve shot Tony a venomous look. "What?" Tony demanded. "I'm not gonna lie to 'em. I thought you were Honest Abe." Steve just rolled his eyes and Tony smirked before growing serious. "You all are going to be fine. The test kind of puts you out of it, so your brain will try to convince you that the simulation is real, but it's not. Remember that. You'll probably be hazy afterwards, so the rest of the day is yours to stay in or go out or whatever you feel like. Got it?"

All three nodded and Tony put his hands together in anticipation. "We'll start then. Good luck. Sam, you're up first." When the kid didn't move, Tony walked forward and clapped him on the back. "Come on, kid." Sam started and walked forward, following Natasha through the door into the room behind the glass. She gestured to the chair, and he sat down. Once he had his wrists positioned correctly on the arm wrests, Natasha nodded to Bruce. He hit a button and metal restraints expanded from the chair, encircling Sam's forearms.

The boy took a deep breath that Alex couldn't hear, but she knew it radiated nerves. Natasha put a comforting hand on his shoulder, nodded, and made her way out of the room. Once she was safely on the other side of the glass, Bruce hit the intercom and asked Sam, "'Kay bud, you ready?"

Sam smiled anxiously. "Will I ever be? Hit it."

The Avengers mouth's all ticked up, though Alex realized the stress in their expressions. She guessed that since they obviously despised the test themselves, they hated making Alex, Sam, and Tom do it, but felt it was necessary. As for herself, Alex felt as if she was about to pass out. She wondered how red her face was.

Bruce hit another three buttons, and the lights in Sam's room dimmed slightly. The cameras turned on and started projecting, though the glass everyone was looking through was specially engineered. It wouldn't show whatever simulation was happening behind it.

Sam seemed okay for the first minute and a half- his expression was alert and he gazed around the testing room as if he was aware he was there, not wherever the simulation was taking place. However, as time passed, his eyes glazed over and started to flit around nervously. His fingers seemed to subconsciously twitch every few seconds, then his legs, then his entire body. Soon he was jerking against the restraints around his wrists. When the simulation hit the two minute mark, he began to scream.

The room had sound barriers, but his shrieks penetrated the walls so that everyone could hear. Tony swallowed and turned away, walking to the back of the room. Everyone else stood watching Sam with similar expressions of distaste twisting their features, and Alex heard Clint whisper to Natasha, "Why did SHIELD have to create this stupid test, anyway?" Natasha, as long as she'd known her, always had a logical explanation for everything. But now, she just curled her lip and stayed silent.

Alex wanted to grab Clint's arm and collapse, to beg him to let her out of this, but she had kind of already tried that. Besides, that would only make her look more weak than she often appeared. She took a trembling breath, turning away from Sam and focusing her gaze on a ceiling tile.

\--

Clint breathed out a sigh of relief when Sam's simulation ended. It had lasted four minutes, which was longer than average. As soon as it concluded, Tony rushed into the testing room and helped Sam stand up. His knees buckled as soon as he did, and Tony put his hands under his arms to hold him up. They both stumbled out of the testing room and then out of the bay, Tony shooting everyone a look that said he wouldn't be returning. They all nodded in understanding. The haze of trauma from seeing your worst fear lasted anywhere from a few hours to a few days in Clint's experience, and he knew Tony cared for the kid. They'd been spending a lot of time together in his lab.

Clint turned to Alex, who was staring upwards and looked absolutely terrified. "Allie?" He asked. She kept her eyes trained on the ceiling. "Alex," He said more forcefully. "Hey, it's your turn now." He grabbed her hand and she finally glanced at him. Her hands were already shaking. "You're going to be okay." He gave a reassuring smile.

She nodded and pushed past him to the testing room and plopped down in the chair, resigned. Clint hit the intercom button. "You're ready then?" She nodded again and he bit the inside of his cheek nervously, hitting the start button. The metal cuffs circled around her wrists and she flinched as the room went dark. Clint could tell when she started to see things by the way her eyes widened in panic. She immediately started to strain against the cuffs, screaming words in a language that Clint couldn't understand. It was only when she started to cry that Clint had to turn away. He pressed a hand to his mouth, trying to block out her heaving sobs and peered at Natasha, who's gaze was downcast.

"What's she saying?" He whispered faintly, and her eyes flicked toward him.

"She's speaking Russian. I can't make out everything over the-" Natasha swallowed and paused for a moment before continuing. "What I can hear is she's saying... 'stop', 'please don't hurt me' or 'please don't hurt them' over and over. The rest… I can't hear."

Clint and the others listened to her scream and cry for the next two minutes, unable to do anything but grit their teeth. When the sim finally ended, he turned around just in time to see Alex vault off of and over the chair and scurry to the back of the room, taking up a defensive stance. Usually people looked faint after it ended but she seemed extremely alert. Her chest was heaving and her eyes darted around frantically. Clint frowned in concern. He rushed toward the door, telling Bruce and Thor to take Tomen outside as he passed them. The pair hesitated but complied, noticing the forceful stress in his voice.

Alex looked as if she were about to pass out or hurt someone at the same time. Clint ripped open the door to the testing room, Steve and Natasha close behind. However, before they could get any closer, Alex screamed, "Stop!" All three of them halted, shocked by her frantic tone. She was crouched with her back against the wall, one hand thrown up in the air, the other on the floor bracing herself. "I can't… I can't…"

"It's just us." Clint put out his hands. "It's me, Natasha, and Steve. You're okay." He slowly took a few steps forward and she visibly tensed.

"If you get any closer I'll hurt you!" She threatened, still screaming.

Clint stopped short at that. He'd seen what she could do in training. Steve put his hands out too, as if offering peace. "You're safe, Alex. We're not whoever you saw in the sim-"

"Don't patronize me!" She yelled. "I know who you are!" She looked at Natasha who was slowly inching forward. "Stop getting closer! I swear to god… if you touch me, I'll… I'll hurt you! Don't t-t-think I won't!" She gasped. Her breaths were getting shallower.

"Alright," Steve said calmly, "We're not gonna touch you." He sat down on the floor, gesturing for Natasha and Clint to do the same. They dropped down. "See? You don't have to worry about us. Would you like to tell us what you saw? We might be able to help." Steve suggested.

"No!" She responded quickly. "No, you can't… you…" She clutched at her throat. "I can't… I can't b-b-breathe-" She took in a shuddering breath.

Clint put his hands on the floor, recognizing what this was. "Okay Alex, you're having a panic attack. Does this happen a lot? Have you had one before?"

She nodded jaggedly. "I was d-diagnosed with generalized a-a-anxiety dis… disorder and depression... last year, so yeah."

Clint grimaced. He hadn't known that. "Here's what we're going to do. You're going to look at me," Clint paused until she turned her gaze to him. "Now I want you to sit down on the floor." She didn't move and he waved his hand. "C'mon. Sit down, back against the wall, knees up. We're not gonna hurt you." Hesitantly, she followed his directions, still sucking in gaps of air. "Put your head between your knees and then we're all going to breathe together." Once she did, he started to count. "Breathe in, 1… 2… 3… Good. Breathe out, 1… 2… 3…" The four of them continued on like that until Alex's breathing slowed and her posture relaxed. She slumped, resting her head on the wall.

"Alex," Natasha started after a few moments. "We know that you don't want to tell us what you saw, but we need to know what's going on with you."

"You seem scared a lot of the time, and like you're trying to cover it up," Steve jumped in. "Does what you saw relate to that at all?"

"We don't want to invade your privacy," Clint added quickly, "We just want to understand how to support you. That's all."

It took a few seconds, but she slowly raised her head to look at them, eyes flat and puffy. "You want to know what I saw? Fine. I was going to have to tell you eventually anyways." She took a deep breath in before starting. "I lived with my parents for 14 years of my life. They taught me how to do everything I know. Hand to hand combat, archery, all the languages I speak, everything. I shot my first handgun when I was nine."

Steve's eyebrows furrowed.

"They were major end of the world preppies, and were convinced that their kids needed to be these military grade soldiers. I never got to be a kid. I got to be a weapon, and so did Peter. Everything had to be perfect for them, and when it wasn't they'd get violent. A missed shot, a lost fight, an incorrect answer, a snarky remark, anything we did wrong would institute a slap or kick or punch. Sometimes if they were really mad, they'd refuse us food for 36 hours."

Natasha's fist tightened, angry at something that had already happened.

"The day they died was the best day of my life, and I'm not going to sugarcoat that. They did horrible things to me and my brother and they're still messing up my life now." She swallowed. "I know you all have noticed that I don't like to be touched. I can tell, and I know that you've wanted to know why. Well, this is it. For almost my entire life up to this point, physical contact has only been painful. I never got hugs or kisses or cuddled, because my parents would have never done any of those and Peter and I, even now, are too fucking traumatized to even think about it. That's the reason I can't handle people unexpectedly touching me, even if I know who it is. My brain just reverts to the assumption that it's going to hurt." She paused before continuing, voice so soft they could barely hear her. "So if you really want to know what I saw in my simulation, it was parents beating the shit out of me and my brother. It was a repeat of a night three years ago, only a few months before they died. It was the worst they ever hurt us. I thought they were going to kill us. I thought I was going to die." She shuddered.

Clint quietly muttered, "Jesus Christ," under his breath. Steve clenched his jaw but he saw his eyes welling up like a dam about to burst. He quickly blinked the tears away. On the other side of Clint, a tear was rolling down Natasha's cheek and she hastily wiped it off.

"It's been two years since they died, and I know I'm safe from them now, but it's been really hard to cope with, I guess. I'd known that I was going to see them in the sim ever since you'd announced the fear test. I'd been stressing over it for weeks. I'd thought maybe I could get out of it but I… and I didn't want to tell you all because I just… I wanted to have someone in my life that didn't look at me as if I were…" She stopped short.

"As if you were what?" Natasha prodded softly.

"Some wounded little animal!" She exploded. "Anybody that I've told starts treating me differently afterwards! Like I'm a box that says, 'handle with care'." She scoffed bitterly, then her voice dropped again. "I liked how you all treated me. Like I was normal, not some basket case you took in and are trying to fix." She wrapped her arms around herself. "I know I'm broken and I know it's obvious but I just wanted some relationships that weren't born out of pity."

"We won't treat you differently, I promise. " Steve stated. "I'm so sorry you had to go through all of that, so young. You didn't deserve it, and neither did your brother."

"You should have told us sooner." Natasha added on. "We would have known to pay attention to what scares you."

"And Alex?" Clint asked. She looked up, eyes brimming with sadness. "Broken is not the word I'd use to describe you. Brave?- for sure. Incredible?- definitely. But broken? Never."

Alex tried to say something but choked, tears spilling over and sliding down her face. She tried again. "T-thank you. I just di-didn't w-want to see them a-a-again-" She was cut off again.

"I know," Clint sighed. "I'm sorry you had to." He hesitated, then asked, "Can we come closer?" This time she nodded forcefully and the three slowly slid forward. Once he was close enough, Alex fell into Clint's shoulder and started to sob. He put his arm around her back and used the other to lightly stroke her hair. Steve and Natasha took to either side of them and held both her hands. The quartet remained in that position until Alex's breaths slowed again and she felt sure enough of herself to move.

\--


	15. 15Chapter15

Sam breathed in a gulp of fresh air rushing through the open car window, sticking his hand out. It danced in wild waves, the air pushing it one way and then another. It was Easter, finally. They were all heading up to Tony's cabin in the woods in two different vehicles, barely a twenty minute drive. Steve, Thor and Bruce were in one car while Natasha, Tom, Alex, and himself were in the other. Tony had already traveled to his house a couple of days ago to get everything prepared and Clint flew home to his family around the same time.

Natasha was in the driver's seat, her arm resting casually on the window ledge, other hand gripping the steering wheel. She seemed very focused on the road, but relaxed at the same time. If he trusted any of the Avengers to be driving the car he was in, it was probably her. Tom was sitting in the other cabin seat in the middle of the Audi, expression blank and unreadable as always. He was, however, holding a piece of paper for some unknown reason and tearing it to shreds little by little, letting the paper scraps float down and land on the car floor. Sam stared out of the corner of his eye, eyebrow raising slightly in confusion.

He quickly looked away, rolling his eyes in irritation and glancing toward the front of the car. His gaze landed on Alex, who was sitting in the passenger seat. He could see her through the side view mirror. She had that vacant look on her face again. It had been four days since the fear test, and for the first two days afterwards, she hadn't come out of her room at all. The next couple of days, she'd made an effort to socialize with the group, but she was only really there half the time. She'd zone out and miss entire parts of the conversation or fail to hear people trying to talk to her. She was there one minute, gone the next, and where she went? He didn't know. Whatever the simulation had shown her must have really messed her up.

Tomen had acted completely normal-or as normal as Tomen can be-after the test. He never saw him change demeanors. Sam, however, was dazed. After Tony had led him out of the testing bay, he'd immediately gone to his room and took a three hour nap. Tony'd told him that would help but all it did was trigger nightmares about what he'd seen. Luckily, Sam now had someone who understood if he needed to bury himself in lab work for a period of time longer than physically healthy. He was pretty much fine after the first day.

Realizing he was still staring in the side-view mirror, he studied Alex's features. Pale green eyes, blond hair, sharp jawline. Her lips were much fuller than he'd realized, probably because they were usually scowling at him. Her fingertips subconsciously tapped the window in tune with the rhythm of the country song Natasha was playing, and he noticed, for the first time, the amount of calluses that they sported. They were so worn that he wondered if she could even feel anything with them at the moment. He was confused for a second before recognizing the strain archery probably put on her hands and arms. With the constant training she did, Sam was surprised her arms even functioned anymore.

When he glanced back up at her face, her eyes were trained on him, now very alert. They weren't judging or angry, merely curious, but Sam startled and snapped away anyways. He'd been caught. He blushed fiercely, something he never did, and turned his gaze to the passing trees. Though he wasn't looking at her anymore, he saw Alex's shoulders shake with a silent laugh and he squeezed his eyes shut. _You idiot._

A few minutes later, they arrived at the compound, the two cars pulling up the long driveway. The cabin was much more quaint than he'd expected from Tony Stark, with maybe three bedrooms at the most. The actual house wasn't as sprawling as he'd imagined, but the land around it made up for that. It was set deep in a forest with more open space than Sam had seen for years. Nearby was a large lake, and he noticed a few row boats bobbing in the shallow water next to a wooden dock. The cabin itself was a couple of stories tall and there was already one other car besides the two they had arrived in parked outside, plus a quinjet.

They all piled out of the vehicle, taking a moment to look around in wonder. Except Natasha, of course, who'd already been to the cabin multiple times. She strode confidently up to the front door, where Clint came walking down the stairs. He smiled and so did she, hugging and patting each other on the backs. They exchanged 'Happy Easter's to each other, Natasha continuing into the house. Clint, however, walked toward Alex. He nodded to Sam and Tomen before putting an arm around her shoulders. They both turned to follow in Natasha's footsteps. Sam wasn't trying to eavesdrop, but they were simply close enough that he was able to hear their conversation.

"So, how are you doing?" Clint asked. "Do you feel any better?"

Alex shrugged. "A little. I'm still kind of woozy, like I've been stuck in a dream. Sam and Tomen don't seem to be bothered anymore so I feel like I shouldn't be either."

"Not necessarily," Clint said. "People process pain in different ways. When I first took the test, I laid in bed for three days, so you're already doing better than me."

She cocked her head. "I think you're just trying to make me feel better."

"Nope, I'm serious. Are you sure you're up for the party?"

"Yeah, I'm good. I'm excited to meet everyone."

"And see your family?"

"Yes!" She exclaimed, and Sam could've sworn he even saw her skip a little. "I miss them so much. I can't wait until they get here. It should be only a couple more hours until they arrive."

Clint stopped and turned to her. "Well, actually…" He trailed off and waved toward the cabin.

Sam saw a bit of confusion flicker across her face before she turned to the cabin and her face lit up as brightly as he'd ever seen it. A young boy who must've been her younger brother (Preston? Pete?) was bounding down the front steps, maybe twelve years old, and Alex ran to meet him. They smashed into each other, screaming in delight. The kid started asking her a million questions immediately, but she pulled him in, resting her head on top of his and holding him tightly. Sam almost turned away. The moment seemed so personal. A second later, however, another young woman, maybe in her early thirties or late twenties, enveloped both of the siblings in a hug. Alex's aunt, Cassandra. He'd seen pictures. They all looked so happy to see each other and Sam felt a momentary pang of jealousy that his parents wouldn't be coming to meet the Avengers. Or see him. But that pang passed nonetheless.

Tomen didn't have anyone coming either and evidently didn't want to stand around watching the happy family reunion. He pushed roughly past Sam and a satisfied Clint, who was explaining that once he found out Alex's family wouldn't be able to get there until later in the day, he flew to Montana and personally picked them up as a surprise. Sam followed Tom and they pushed open the front door.

——————————

Alex smiled brightly, _really smiled_, for the first time in days. She buried her face in her aunt's and brother's shoulders, so elated to see them that she almost forgot other people were there. When she pulled away, there was a brunette woman standing next to Clint with her arm around his waist. She grinned at Alex. "Well, if it isn't' the famous Alexandra."

"Just Alex," She smiled back before realizing with a start who the woman was. "Mrs. Barton!"

"You can call me Laura, honey," She replied. As Laura studied the girl, she was relieved to see that she seemed better than Clint had reported a couple of days ago. He told her almost everything, from the moment Alex had first arrived at the Compound to the fear tests. He hadn't revealed to Laura what had made her so upset from the test, though. He said that was Alex's choice to tell people about and Laura agreed. He had told her that Alex was very shaken up, but she appeared okay at the moment. Alex stuck out her hand to shake, but Laura bypassed the formal gesture, pulling her into a warm hug instead. Alex stiffened at first, surprised, but melted at Laura's strange familiarity. "I've heard a lot about you from Clint." Laura said.

Clint gestured behind him at the brunette girl who looked to be around her own age and the similar looking boy who seemed maybe a little bit older. "These punks are my son and daughter, Lila and Cooper." They waved, smirking at their dad, and Alex waved back.

"It's so great to finally meet you all." She blushed slightly. "I've been excited to-" Before she could finish the sentence, a small, blond-haired boy ran up and tugged at her arm.

"Do you want to play ball with me?" He asked, rather insistently.

Clint sighed. "And that's Nate."

"It's okay, you don't have to," Laura assured her with another smile.

"No, no," Alex turned to Nate. "That's okay. What kind of ball are we playing?"

His face lit up in exhilaration. "Soccer!" He screamed, and ran toward an open patch of grass. She joined him, Clint shooting her a nod of gratitude as she went. Lila and Cooper shrugged, following the two over to play. A few seconds later, Alex remembered Peter and gestured for him to come over. A minute later Morgan came bounding down the steps, howling that she wanted to play and joined in. As Clint and Laura watched their kids and Alex, Peter and Morgan kick around a soccer ball, another car rolled into the driveway.

Steve jogged down the wooden steps of the cabin and out to meet the car, as did Clint. Sam Wilson exited the vehicle, throwing his hands in the air. "I'm here! The party can now begin."

"Right, you wish." As Sam scoffed in mock indignation, Bucky Barnes shoved his way past him, practically jumping into Steve's arms as the two were reunited, laughing. "You do anything stupid while I was gone?"

Steve grinned. "How could I have, when-"

"-When he took all the stupid with him, yeah we know!" Clint exclaimed, strolling over to Wanda. "You're a punk, he's a jerk, we get it."

"Aw, let them have their moment." Wanda sighed, giving Clint a hug. "They only say it everytime they see each other."

Steve rolled his eyes as Clint, Wanda, and Sam came over to stand by him and Bucky. "How're you guys?" He asked.

Without answering Wanda pointed over at Alex, who was currently letting Nate tackle her and laughing. "Is that her?"

"My apprentice?" Clint replied. "Yeah, that's Alex."

"When are you going to take one on, Steve?" Sam asked. "Barton got his four and a half months ago, and Tony has one. What about you?"

"Tony actually has two," Clint cut in, and Sam, Bucky and Wanda stared at Steve, even more expectant.

"Oh, I don't know," Steve sighed. "Whenever I find the right person, I guess."

Bucky scoffed. "That'll probably be never."

Sam added, "Are you even looking?"

"Hey!" Steve put his hands out defensively. "Did you guys only come to give me a hard time? If you think you could do it better, why don't you rejoin the Avengers and put that to the test?"

"Woah woah woah, I never said that," Sam exclaimed. "Can you imagine any of us-" He gestured to the trio incredulously, "Trying to train a _human child_ to be a superhero? No man. Just no," He laughed.

"Yeah, I can barely make toast without burning it." Bucky shrugged.

"Besides, I think we're very content on our little special ops team." Wanda interjected. "It's less attention than the Avengers. More action too. It's pretty great- unless those two get in a fight." She pointed to Sam and Bucky. "Then it's just 'blah blah blah blah blah' all day long about absolutely nothing."

"That is definitely not what we sound like," Bucky disagreed.

"Yeah, name one time I've ever said 'blah blah blah'." Sam nodded.

Wanda just rolled her eyes and Clint and Steve chuckled. Clint grabbed Laura and Cassandra when he passed them and the entire group went into the cabin.

————————————

It was well after Easter dinner and starting to get dark outside. Everyone had been in high spirits the entire party. Tony, Sam and Tomen had made their rounds where he introduced them to everyone, as had Alex and Clint, and Sam hoped he'd made good first impressions. These were all important people, people that he couldn't stand to make enemies with. The meet and greets took a while, and it was almost time for dinner by the time Sam finally got to relax. After eating, most guests were content to sit with drinks in their hands and visit with friends, but the busy bodies like himself, Alex, Tony, and Clint quickly located the game cabinet.

Currently, Sam was watching Clint and Alex play Jenga. He and Tony had both refused an invitation to play, knowing they would lose. Jenga was the perfect game for both mentor and mentee- they both possessed extreme precision, making the game extremely easy… at first. What once had been a wood tower standing a little over a foot tall was now 4'9'', almost taller than Alex herself. The two showed no signs of stopping, they were playing to last, not to win.

"Agh, damnnit!" Clint cried as Alex placed another perfectly balanced block on top of the Jenga tower.

Tony chuckled from where he was seated next to Sam. "Clint's just mad because he's the reigning champion of this game and you're beating him," He said to Alex and she cocked an eyebrow.

"She's not beating me!" Clint yelled in frustration.

The kids (Nate, Peter, Morgan) had all been banished to another room of the cabin since they were making the floor shake and therefore endangering the Jenga tower, so it was only the adults who snickered in bemusement. Lila, Tomen, and Cooper had also gone to the other room. Meanwhile, The whole party was curious to see who came out on top of this escapade- apparently, no one had ever beaten Clint at Jenga or even lasted this long. The only ones who seemed unconcerned with the game were Cassandra and Steve.

Clint rubbed his chin, thinking while Alex took her next turn. If he was going to win this thing, he needed something that would mess her up. So far, he'd tried everything he could think of to distract her but she'd remained unfazed. He glanced around the room and zeroed in on Cassandra and Steve. Cass was touching Steve's arm lightly and they were both laughing, deeply invested in whatever conversation they were having. His face was practically glowing and her cheeks were bright pink. Clint grinned. Bingo.

Right as Alex was pulling a block out near the bottom of the tower, Clint spoke up. "So, hey, Alex."

She continued slowly pulling the brick out. "You're not going to distract me."

"Okay, but your aunt and Steve seem to be getting _pretty… friendly_ over there."

"What?" Her head jerked up. That was all it took. With the block only halfway out, the slightest movement of her hand hit the other bricks around it and caused a chain reaction. The entire tower began to tip, and Sam and Tony quickly jumped off the sides, narrowly avoiding the cascade of wooden blocks. Everyone laughed and clapped good heartedly while Clint pumped a fist in the air.

Alex glanced over to Steve and Cass, who didn't even seem like they had noticed the tower fall. True to Clint's accusation, which she'd hoped was just an attempt to mess her up, they seemed to be overly happy talking to each other. She studied his face. Steve was giving her aunt the eyes. His golden boy eyes! His 'couldn't you just fall in love with me right now' eyes! Alex quickly squinted at Cass and she was making the expression right back! _Oh my god. Oh. My. God._

She huffed and turned away, shaking Clint's outstretched hand. They both leaned down and scooped up the blocks, depositing them in the box. "That was dirty," She muttered, though she wasn't mad.

He shrugged impishly. "Just playing the game."

She smiled. When she looked up at Clint. she suddenly noticed her brother standing in shadow of the doorway to the parlor. Peter was gesturing to her wildly, and she could tell something was wrong. Nobody else seemed to have noticed him.

Alex stood up. "Excuse me for a moment?"

Clint and Tony nodded and she quickly rushed over to Peter, following him out of the parlor, through the kitchen, and into the back hallway. Peter was wringing his hands, seemingly on the verge of panic. He tried to speak a couple of times but stuttered over his words.

"Hey, hey," Alex soothed, putting her hands on his shoulders. "Take a couple of breaths. What's wrong?"

"I-I think-" Peter sucked in a deep breath. "I think T-Tomen knows about m-m-mom and d-dad."

She shook her head, trying to make sense of the sentence. All the blood seemed to drain from her face but all she could hear was it rushing in her ears. Everything else faded out around her. "You mean… who t-they were?" He nodded frantically. She cursed herself for stuttering. Peter would need to see that she wasn't bothered or he would freak out even more. She swallowed and forced the lump in her throat to leave her alone. "What makes you think that?"

"We were t-talking and he, he asked me what I thought about you as an Avenger so I said-"

"Hold on, slow down," Alex told him. "I can't understand half of what you're saying."

Peter swallowed nervously and forced himself to speak at a normal speed. "He asked my opinion on you training to be an Avenger. I t-told him that I w-was proud and that you want to help people and s-save people and that's all you've ever w-wanted to do and then he s-said, he said…"

"He said what?" Alex hissed.

"He said, 'Your parents wouldn't like that, would they?'. And then he smiled and walked away and didn't say anything else and I didn't know what to do! I w-went and got you b-b-because I… I think he knows!" Peter wailed and collapsed against the hallway wall.

She put a hand over his mouth. "I know you're scared, Peter. But you have to be quiet. _The Avengers don't know_," She whispered. "So you have to get control of yourself! I didn't tell anyone about mom and dad, and there's no trace of anything on the internet. I would know. So there is no way that Tomen does."

Peter crossed his arms, biting the inside of his cheek. "I don't know, Alex…"

"Tomen is a weird, aggressive, psycho and…" She put her hands in her face. "Don't freak out, but something came up about mom and dad a few days ago that I couldn't avoid telling Clint, Natasha, and Steve. Not any of the important things!" She assured him as Peter's face grew horrified. "And I didn't tell them about Dev either, just that they used to hurt us."

Peter groaned. "Oh my god…"

"I had to. Tom probably just heard something about that and he's trying to mess with your head to mess with me. I'll take care of it, Peter."

He seemed hesitant and shook his head. "If you say so. I just don't want you to get hurt."

"I don't think I would like getting hurt either," She grinned, attempting to lighten up the conversation. He rolled his eyes, swallowing hard. Her face took on a more serious tone. "I'm going to be fine, Peter. I promise."

"You know you can't promise." He pouted.

Alex frowned. "Why don't you go sit by Cass. If Tomen tries to talk to you, walk away. Don't let him near you. Even if he doesn't know about mom and dad, _which I don't think he does_, I don't want you around all of his negativity. Okay?"

"Alright." Sam nodded. "What about you?"

"I just need to go to the bathroom for a minute." She smiled. Peter obviously saw right through her expression, but hugged her and left for the parlor anyway.

Alex hurried to the bathroom and shut the door as quietly as she could through her rush. It was smaller than she'd assumed, with a glass walled shower in the corner, a porcelain toilet, wooden vanity with a stone counter and a large circular mirror above it. Already feeling claustrophobic, she shoved open the window above the toilet and practically stuck her whole head outside.

_Tom doesn't know._

_Tom doesn't know._

_Tom doesn't know._

———————————

"Cap is single, he's finally moved past Peggy _and_ Sharon, which the second attraction was always weird anyways, and who's to say he's not looking?" Tony shrugged.

Clint raised an eyebrow. "But Alex's aunt, though? He wouldn't."

"Why not? She's a very beautiful woman-" Pepper slapped Tony's arm and he simpered at her cheekily. "-But there's none more beautiful than you, dear."

"If Steve wants to get back in the dating game, good for him!" Laura agreed. "He deserves happiness after everything he's gone through."

Clint squeezed his wife's hand. "The fact that 'Mr. Eagle Ears' hasn't noticed us talking about him because he's too deeply invested in conversation with Cass speaks to something, I guess."

"I wonder if Alex has noticed," Sam added, the first words he'd said since the Jenga game. It wasn't that he felt awkward, but he never really talked much with anyone but Tony. Of course he could carry conversations with reporters and other tech moguls (possible business partners) well enough because he didn't have to actually make any personal connections with them. He'd turn on the charm for a few hours and be done with that, but these people? He wanted them to actually like him. He almost felt… insecure.

Pepper giggled at Sam's comment. "Considering Clint pointed them out to her earlier and then she knocked the Jenga tower over, I'd say she noticed."

"Speaking of Alex," Tony wondered, "Where'd she go, anyways?"

"I'm not sure," Clint replied. "She looked kind of worried when she left, and it's been over fifteen minutes. Maybe I should go check and make sure everything's okay."  
He started to get up but Tony waved a hand and pushed him back down. "Nah, Sam'll take care of it."

Sam's head snapped up. "Huh?"

"You can go check on Alex, right?" Tony grinned. Sam could've punched him in that moment, no matter if he was Iron Man or not. He glared hard.

"She _hates_ me, Tony."

"Oh, come now. It's Easter. You too are going to have to learn to work together, you know."

Sam fumed. Tony was treating him like some kindergartner who'd had a petty little fight with another kid. "Fine," He growled.

"Try to be nice. Maybe you can even get friendly," Tony nodded at Sam and Cass and wiggled his eyebrows, "Like those two over there."

That set of Clint roaring with laughter but Sam was _not_ amused. "Shut up, Tony," He murmured and swept out of the parlor as fast as he could, cheeks burning. Sam wasn't even sure where to check first, but he didn't have to go far. Through his embarrassment, he almost missed Alex standing in the kitchen and had to backtrack when he did see her. She was standing facing him, leaning against the cabinets with her hands braced on the countertop behind her. Her eyes seemed distracted again, as if she were envisioning an entire world that was invisible to him. She didn't even seem to notice that he was in front of her. "Alex?" Her head jerked towards him, startled, just as his gaze traveled down to her hands again and he realized the fingertips of her left hand were resting on the burning stovetop. "Oh my god, Alex!"

He rushed towards her and she involuntarily took a step away. "What's wrong, Sam?"

"There are desserts cooking on the stove!" She looked at the appliance, seemingly only now noticing the fruit crisps simmering on the burners. "Your fingers should be on fire right now! Don't you feel anything?"

She lifted her hand up gingerly, gazing at her fingers. "I didn't realize that… the oven was on…"

As Sam ran up to her, he grabbed her hand, inspecting her fingertips. They were extremely red and a few had blisters popping up. "Um… u-uh…" He stumbled over his words, not sure what to do. Luckily, at that moment, Pepper strolled into the kitchen to check on her fruit crisps. "Mrs. Stark!" He practically yelled before lowering his voice when Pepper jumped. "Do you keep burn ointment somewhere?"

Pepper's face grew concerned. "What-"

"Everything's fine, we promise," Sam explained. "Just a little accident. Ointment?"

"Uh, yes," Pepper directed, surprised by the sudden urgency. "Upstairs bathroom, two doors down, second shelf in the cabinet next to the mirror. It should be a white tube that says Bacitracin on it. Do you need help finding it?"

"No, we can do it. Thank you Mrs. Stark." With that, Sam whisked Alex out of the kitchen, still holding her hand. They rushed up the stairs and he repeated to himself what he'd learned about treating burns. "Cool, clean, ointment, bandage. Don't break the blisters."

Once they got to the bathroom he pushed open the door and flicked the lightswitch. This bathroom was much more spacious than the one on the lower level, and he left Alex standing at the sink while he dashed towards the cabinet. He rummaged around until he found a box of Band-Aids and the Bacitracin. _Perfect_. He snatched them away and set them back on the counter by Alex, who still seemed out of it. He took her hand, turned the faucet on, and let the cool water cascade over her fingers. After they seemed adequately covered, he took a tissue and softly dabbed the moisture away. She didn't seem to feel a thing.

When he switched the faucet off and glanced back up at her, her eyes had turned very alert. "So," He said casually while twisting open the ointment and gently rubbing it on her fingers. "Want to explain to me why you couldn't feel yourself burning your own fingertips?"

"Archery," She replied simply. He raised an eyebrow and peered at her, as if saying, '_gonna need more than that'. _She sighed as if the very thought of explaining was putting her out. "My finger tab broke the other day while I was shooting, and I didn't want to take the time to find another one so I kept on anyways. My fingertips got super calloused and now I have virtually no sensation in my middle, pointer, and ring fingers."

"There's two more fingers," Sam pointed out. "What about pinky and thumb?"

"I was distracted."

"So distracted that you couldn't feel your fingers blistering?" He simmered, angry for some reason.

"Yes, okay?" She snapped back. "I was lost in my own head." Then her voice suddenly dropped, as if in defeat. "I'm sorry."

Sam was so surprised at the last part that his hands stopped working for a second before resuming. He ripped open a band-aid and wrapped it around one of her fingers. "What? Why are you saying sorry?" He encircled the next finger.

"I don't know," She shrugged. "It's just something I say."

"Well, you don't have to apologize," Sam ripped another bandage. Her fingers were going to consume the rest of the pack. Hopefully Tony didn't mind. "Especially not to me," He added, placing the last two bandages. She inspected her new fashion statements and he cocked his head. "It really doesn't hurt?" She shook her head. "Damn. You should be more careful with those things. Archery pretty much depends on them, doesn't it?"

That seemed to hit a nerve and she sucked in a breath. "Do you want to go outside? I'm going to go outside. You can come if you want, but you don't' have to."

It was so abrupt that before he could even respond she disappeared out of the bathroom and he heard her tromping lightly down the stairs. _To follow or not to follow, that is the question_. After a few seconds, Sam threw his hands up in the air and chased after her.

———————————

The spring air was pleasant even though the sun had long since faded. It hit him with a blast when he stepped out the back door onto the cabin's wraparound porch and he took a moment to truly enjoy it before searching the grounds for Alex. He found her sitting at the edge of the lake on a patch of green grass, knees pulled up to her chest. Sam didn't do awkward, but in that moment, he felt it. He regretted his decision to come out here but he couldn't turn back now- he was sure Alex had detected his presence. Usually, there wasn't much that could slip by her.

He trudged down the cabin's back steps and hesitantly took a seat next to her, spreading his legs out in front of him. He braced himself up with his hands. He was sure his pants would have grass stains after this, but he wasn't about to look like an idiot standing up while she sat down. No need to make the situation more uncomfortable. When he squinted at Alex in the moonlight, he saw that she was gazing across the lake with wide eyes. It looked like she was present, but absent at the same time. He didn't know what to say, so he stared out too, trying to see what she saw. All he saw was water.

After a few minutes, she spoke up wistfully. "Have you ever spent years trying to forget the things that happened to you, but you just keep seeing them?"

Sam raised an eyebrow. "Not… exactly. The tabloids follow me everywhere but I don't think that's what you're talking about. You mean like… flashbacks to things you don't want to remember?" She nodded. "Is that what's been going on with you lately?"

"I thought it was obvious," She said. "I can't seem to control it; I'll be completely fine one second and then the next… everything comes flooding back."

"The test drudged up some things, then?" He asked. She stiffened at the mention, but his own dumbass kept talking anyways. "You know, I saw the future. What I'm afraid will happen. But you saw the past. What did you see?"  
"What did I see?" She scoffed. "What did I see. You really think that's a good question to ask me."

Sam crossed his arms defensively. "You're the one who brought it up."

"_I _brought up that I'd been seeing flashbacks. _Not_ what I saw. If I felt comfortable with telling you I would have."

"Oh, but you obviously don't." Sam didn't understand why he was so offended. It wasn't like they were friends.

She turned up her nose. "Nope. I don't think I'll ever tell you."

"So you think you're always going to hate me then?" He snapped.

"I don't…" Alex trailed off for a moment. "I don't hate you. I dislike you. There's a difference."

"Well, the feeling's mutual." Sam rolled his eyes. He didn't know why he'd even followed her out here.

She didn't seem to like that answer. "What I saw, what happened to me when I was younger… I only tell the people that I'm closest to. The people that I…"

"Trust?" Sam guessed.

She shook her head emphatically at that. "I don't trust. Period. I was going to say 'the people that I know won't judge me'. And you're not one of those people." She thought for a moment. "Yet."

"You think I could be?" _Hadn't she just said the opposite?_

"We all have choices we need to make, don't we? We haven't known each other for that long. Just because we don't like each other now doesn't mean we always will. Maybe we just need to talk more."

"Yeah, because this conversation's going so great." Sam said with a boatload of sarcasm.

"You're a real cynist aren't you?" She almost looked amused. "We've made progress by talking to each other, don't you think? We've gotten a little snippy, but it hasn't ended in a screaming match."

"Yet."

This time, she actually laughed out loud. Something warm spread through his chest at the sound and he took a shaky breath, trying to push the weird feeling away. They both went silent for some more minutes again.

"So," Alex asked, "Parents couldn't make it? I would've loved to meet them."

"Yeah, the legends." Sam scoffed. He couldn't blame her, everyone wanted to meet them. _Jeannie and Sallinger Synde. The tech moguls. The media and business giants. The perfect couple. They were famous and he just wanted out of their shadow. _"They were too tied up with business meetings in Taipei," he jeered.

Alex frowned. "On Easter?"

"Yeah, well," Sam couldn't have been more annoyed. "They missed Thanksgiving and Halloween last year, barely made it for Christmas and my birthday, missed New Year's, and didn't even bother to send me a text on Valentine's Day so this really isn't all that shocking." He mimicked Alex's position, also pulling his knees to his chest. He could see why she was sitting that way- it was actually kind of comforting.

"Do they not give a shit or what?" Alex asked abruptly.

Sam couldn've winced at her tone. "Jesus, that was pretty blunt, wasn't it?" She shrugged, as if to say that she didn't beat around the bush. Sam actually appreciated that a little bit. "Nah," He answered her previous question. "I know they love me, so that just makes things worse."

"Why?"

"If they didn't love me, I could at least chalk their ball drops up to that, but apparently they just don't love me enough. They see me as a failure, I know they do. They can't stand to look at me for long so they hide in their work. '_The Synde's genius son'," _He said, reciting old opinion piece headlines. "'_It's no secret that Samuel is extremely smart. However, they expected so much-so did we- but he can't seem to deliver.'_"

"That's pretty harsh," Alex mumbled. Sam shrugged. "You know," She said. "I don't think you're a disappointment. I mean, look at where you are. You're training to be a freaking Avenger. You're spending Easter at Tony Stark's cabin. I think someday you'll beat your parents legacy, and whoever said that about you will be proven wrong."

"You don't even like me," He sniffed.

"That doesn't mean I don't believe that you're going to do great things."

Sam had no idea what to say to that. This girl could really flip a switch. No one had ever said that stuff to him before either, because he'd never told people all the things he'd just admitted to her. His enemy at the moment, nonetheless. _Interesting_. He felt like he could have burst out crying, which was strange. He hadn't cried since… he couldn't even remember. He didn't know if it was the moonlight or the air or the lake or her but all he wanted to do was let loose.

Sam finally sighed. "Sometimes, I just wish that my parents would show me that they cared and not just ignore me. And I know that sounds corny and pathetic but-" He stopped speaking out of shock when Alex leaned over and put an arm around his shoulders. He looked at her for some sort of answer as to why but she was just staring out at the lake again. He supposed that maybe they both needed some comfort in the moment, so he slid his arm around her shoulders, too.

He had no idea how long they sat there for, but eventually they ended up leaning against each other and he hoped to God that Tony hadn't seen them so he could make jokes at Sam's behalf about it later. Still, he forgot about that when the warm, funny, feeling spread again when Alex whispered, "Thank you for fixing my hand."


	16. Announcement

Hi everyone! This is here because I accidentally forgot the header on Chapter 15 before I published it. First of all, thank you to everyone who has favorited and followed so far and the reviews! Keep 'me coming!

Second. There will be more apprentices in the future, I promise. However, this is not a story that will wrap up soon. It will simply keep going, as I have lots and lots of ideas. If you do choose to read on expecting an end in mind, you should probably let go of that idea.

I don't know if that makes sense, but I hope it does. I have no idea how many chapters this story will get, but if you want to keep reading, I love you for it!

Hope everyone's staying safe, bye!


	17. 16Chapter16

Hey everyone! Here's the next chapter, sorry that updates are so sporadic. Thank you to everyone who has favorited and followed so far, and to duskydragons for the reviews! I love reading reviews and they give me motivation so please leave one! Thanks! I hope everyone is in good health and staying safe.

——

_One, two, three, punch._

_One, two, three, punch._

_One, two, three, punch._

_One, two, three, punch._

Alex's fists connected with the punching bag, producing a dull thud each time. The first time she'd tried her hand at the Avengers' punching bag, she'd actually broken a finger. Apparently, the bags they had sitting around were specially engineered for Steve's super strength and hard as a cliff wall. It was the most humiliating thing the next morning to have to explain to the Avengers why she had a splint wrap on her middle finger.

What Alex really needed was sleep, but insomnia was relentless so she appreciated that she could train in the gym without waking the Avengers. At home, she'd usually wake Peter or Cass, and they'd tell her to go to bed. The Avengers on the other hand, they all had their own demons and understood if she needed to be up and doing something. The punching bag provided a sort of comfort, so she could work out her frustrations without breaking something. Steve felt the same way, often turning to the bags. They'd even had sessions together in the middle of the night a few times, but he wasn't here this time. Now, Alex was alone.

Easter had been last week, and it had served as a welcome break from all the drama with the apprenticeship lately. The tests, fighting with the boys, all of her worries about her own capabilities and missing her family. Still, though the day and party had been amazing, it had all been slightly tainted by Tomen's comment towards Peter. Alex didn't know what he meant by it or how much he knew, but it'd put her even more on guard with him then ever. And then she'd burnt her freaking fingers, which meant she wasn't able to do the one thing she loved most in the world for six days- shoot her bow. The silving lining of that situation shone afterwards, though, as she had made some progress with Sam. They'd had their first real conversation ever, and it was surprisingly pleasant. Besides, if he hadn't been there, who knows how bad her fingers could have been burned? Over the last week, they'd found acting civilly towards each other manageable, albeit still a bit challenging, but had never mentioned or discussed the conversation they had, much less anything else.

She was pulled from her thoughts, when, out of the corner of her eye, she noticed someone standing in the Observation Bay of the gym. She squinted, realizing with growing horror that it was Tomen. His eyes were a darker shade of brown than she'd ever seen on anyone else, and they narrowed in on her with calculating intensity. She wondered, with dark amusement, if he wore color contacts to appear more threatening. He stood with his hands entwined behind his back, the deep scowl that he could never seem to wipe off of his stupid face manifesting strongly. Her pulse suddenly seemed to be trying to win a race, and she felt like running out of the gym and straight to her bedroom without ever looking back. Nonetheless, she straightened, holding her head high and making direct eye contact with him. He didn't look away and neither did she, not for a long six seconds. Eventually she turned and started assaulting the bag again.

A few minutes, the lights of the gym flashed a blinding red a few times and Alex paused._ What the-_

Before she could finish the thought, a series of short, piercing bursts sounded off, and she clamped her hands over her ears. One second later, FRIDAY started to make an announcement, voice urgent. _"There's been a breach in the North Perim-"_ The A.I.'s voice cut out and Alex frowned before all the lights died and she was left in a pitch black darkness. Alex instinctively crouched to the ground in a defensive position and started to crawl toward the gym exit, mind racing through the possibilities. _The Avengers could be testing her, pranking her, she wouldn't put it past them. It could be a false alarm, but then why had all the lights and FRIDAY shut off?_ It could be the worst possibility, someone was attacking, though that seemed unlikely. From what she knew, the Compound was virtually impenetrable. When she remembered Tomen, she looked up at him and jerked her head toward the exit. Even if he made her uneasy, he was probably a good partner to have in the event of an ambush.

When Alex reached the glass sliding doors to the gym, she had to pry them open manually because they wouldn't slide apart. With some, though minimal, light from the moon since she was close to a huge wall of windows now, she ran to the glass and pressed her hands against it. She could barely see the rest of the buildings that made up the Compound, as the lights were out everywhere. It could only mean one thing if the lights completely out. _"Shit," _she spat. The compound was being attacked and she was half dressed in yoga leggings and a training bra.

That thought became painfully aware when Tomen came rushing down the stairs. She didn't mind being so bare around people she was close to or friends with but he wasn't either of those things. As she expected he gave her a once over. "I mean, clothes don't stop a bullet, but some more fabric might be appropriate…"  
"What do you care for appropriate?" She spat, and he smiled in his own icy way. "What's going on?"

"Hell if I know," They both spoke in low tones in case anyone could hear them. "FRIDAY said there was a breach. Do you think they're testing us?"

"I have no idea. We should treat this as a real situation. What would we do first if people were coming for us?" She whispered.

"Weapons," Tom answered immediately, and Alex nodded in agreement.

They hurried to the armory entrance, but to open it, they needed a passcode for the electronic lock. That obviously wouldn't work since the power was out. She looked around, analyzing her options. The closest weapon store she could think of was in the residence. The passcode to that couch hadn't looked electronic to her and if she could get to her room, she could grab her bow. To get there, she'd have to go through some of the main hallways, which could be dangerous if there were intruders. She thought for a moment before realizing with a start that she could go through the vents.

"I have an idea, but it might not work for you," She said, and Tomen shrugged as if telling her to go ahead anyways. "Okay, so I don't know if you know this, but there's a weapons store in the couch in the residence."

"Tony showed me."

"Alright good. That's the closest armory I can think of and we'll need to get to the Residence anyways-"

"Just one small problem," He interrupted. "You need a password to get into that couch and we don't know it."

"_I _know it."

Tom scoffed. "They told _you_?"

Alex rolled her eyes at the implication, choosing to ignore it rather than comment and give him the satisfaction. "No, they didn't tell me. When Clint showed it to me, I watched him enter the passcode." She tapped her temple. "Stored, right here."

He grinned. "Cunning. I like it."

"Just smart," She shrugged. "But to get there we'll have to go through main hallways, so is there any chance you can fit in the vents?" She asked abruptly. She probably sounded crazy.

"The vents," He repeated slowly.

"Yes, they're actually a faster way to move around and no one trying to hunt us down would expect us to be there."

"That's a fair point, but you're rather small." There was a condescending edge to his tone. "It makes sense that you'd fit but I don't think I'll be able to."

"Clint Barton is up in the vents all the time, I'm sure-"

"_No,_ Alexandra." He barked, suddenly forceful. She flinched inwardly at the use of her full name but he continued. "You can go in the vents, I'll walk in the hallways below you, that way I can signal if anyone is coming towards us."

She shrugged. "Okay then, if that's what you want." Alex took one of her boxing gloves off and lobbed it towards the ceiling, aiming for and hitting a weak spot in one of the panels, knocking it askew. With a boost from Tom, Alex was able to jump and grab the opening, pulling herself up. If he'd noticed the scars on her back, he didn't say anything.

Once she was in the ceiling, she nodded to Tom and pushed the tile back into place. She began her crawl toward the residence, checking her watch. _2:43 AM._

\--

Clint awoke with a jolt, shooting up so fast that all the blood rushed to his head. The whole world went fuzzy and he thought the flashing was due to that, but after blinking a few times, it hadn't gone away. The emergency lights were harsh on his unadjusted eyes, and he flinched a little as two siren bursts sounded. Shortly afterwards, FRIDAY said, "_There's been a breach in the North Perim-"_

Then the lights went out.

Clint practically flipped out of bed, suddenly hyper aware. _What did FRIDAY say… something about Perimeter? Breach? Wait, perimeter, breach, in the same sentence? _That meant one thing to him. _Danger_. He grabbed his folded bow that lay under his bed and snapped it into place, snatching a quiver and his 36 arrows before nocking one and hurrying over to his door. He tried the lightswitch next to it, but his lamps didn't flip on. He raised an eyebrow, then padded over to his desk and grabbed the flashlight that he always kept there. He silently opened his door and stepped into the hallway.

Clint hesitated for half a second, deciding to head toward the commons, and crept down the hallway. At one point, he heard a noise behind him and whipped around, drawing the bow but not releasing it. A tall, muscled figure threw their hands up. "Woah! Clint, it's just me!"

Clint breathed a little sigh of relief when he recognized Steve's voice and lowered his bow. "Lights, sirens, FRIDAY?" He asked shortly.

Steve nodded and put his hands on his hips. "Heading to the Commons?"

"Yeah, figured that's where everyone else was going."

"I tried FRIDAY, she's not answering."

"Awesome."

"I know."

The two continued in silence and once they got to the Commons, Clint glanced at the clock on the stove. _2:43 AM_. Abruptly, Steve seemed to remember something and turned around, back toward the hallway they had just come from. Clint watched him go and chose to continue forward, knowing Rogers would join his team as quickly as he could.

Since Steve's and Clint's rooms were the farthest away from the Commons, everyone else was already assembled. Natasha and Bruce were standing by the couch and discussing the situation, Natasha fingering the gun in her thigh holster she had strapped on over her pajama pants. Thor was standing at the window, scanning the grounds and Tony was sitting at the kitchen counter furiously tapping away at his personal StarkPad. When Clint entered, all heads snapped in his direction, a chorus of voices all rising at once.

"What's happening?"

"Why is the electricity out? I thought there were generators for this sort of thing."

"Do we need to be on defense, are we being attacked?"

Tony was the only one that stayed silent, never even looking up from his tablet. He was in the zone, dead to everyone but the screen in front of him.

As the team continued to ask him things, Clint stuck out his hands in surrender. "Hey, I don't know any more than the rest of you. Woke up to bright ass lights and FRIDAY said something mildly concerning, haven't figured out anything else yet."

"Where is Steve?" Natasha asked. "Shouldn't he be here by now?"

"He went to check on something, he'll probably be back soon." Clint strolled over to her, and they shared a tense glance.

Bruce frowned. "How about the kids?"

Clint was about to open his mouth to answer, but stopped in shock. He had forgotten to check the apprentice's rooms even as he passed them on the way here. In all the confusion, he had forgotten. He cursed himself out in all the languages he could think of, but before he could even take a step in the direction of their rooms, Steve appeared around the corner, almost out of breath. _That couldn't be right, _Clint thought, _Because Steve physically cannot run out of breath that easily._

"The kids," He panted, "Aren't in their apartments. They're all empty." He looked strikingly anxious, not an expression that often graced his face.

_"Aren't in their apartments,_" Clint repeated softly under his breath. "_Sam. Tomen. Aren't in their apartments,_" He muttered again. Why was it taking him so goddamn long to process Steve's words? "Alex!" He said louder, suddenly realizing what Steve had said. "They're… somewhere in the Compound? Where? Tony?" Clint spun on the man, searching his face for an answer. Surely FRIDAY had to know where she and the boys were, right? Everyone waited expectantly.

"Shit!" Tony finally exclaimed. He grunted. "I can't get anything and my tablet just died."

"So you've got no intel then?" Steve asked.

"Nope." Tony responded, emphasizing the P. "Zip, nada, zero. I got nothin'." He frowned, disconcerted. "This is a weird feeling."

Clint suddenly realized why Steve was out of breath. The creeping claws of panic were slowly raking down his body, stealing oxygen. If the kids were out there with whatever had caused the emergency lights and sirens to ignite… he'd promised Alex's aunt at Easter that he would keep Alex safe… he'd promised Alex herself...

Everyone blinked, tension seeping into their bodies like a tidal wave. Steve spoke up. "Okay, it's okay. Sometimes they goes to train in the gym at night, right? They're all regular insomniacs, yeah? We just need to spread out and find them, as well as whatever set off FRIDAY and the emergency system." Steve inhaled, intending to say more, but he stopped short when four severe, though muffled, pops exploded.

They were obviously far away, maybe even at the other end of the Compound, but the group drew a collective breath. They knew exactly what those sounds had been. _Gunshots_.

Everyone's faces dropped, and Steve immediately started barking orders. "We'll split up into teams of two, each team responsible for covering two floors! Don't forget your ear pieces, we need to be able to communicate!" He pointed at each pair as he called them out. "Thor and Banner, floors one and two. Barton and Romanoff, three and four. Stark and I will take five and six." The team nodded and he turned to Tony. "Will you be able to focus on rebooting FRIDAY and search with me at the same time?"

Tony raised an eyebrow. "Please, I've been multitasking since the day I was born," He scoffed confidently, though Steve noticed his eyebrow twitching involuntarily. He had two of his own apprentices out there, plus Alex, who they'd all kind of adopted over the last four months. He had to be working hard to keep himself together.

Steve continued. "Identifying the threat is important, but if you can avoid combat until the three are found, do it. We do not want them getting stuck in the middle of a fight." Steve stared intently, emphasizing the next part. "Alex, Sam, and Tomen are our main priorities. If attackers are here to hurt us, I'm sure they will not hesitate to hurt our protegees." He paused. "And we cannot let that happen," He added firmly. "Move out."

As the Avengers assembled their assorted gear and prepared themselves for whatever was coming, Steve passed Clint. He gently laid a hand on the man's shoulder, though he jumped as if Steve had slapped him. He knew that the archer and Alex were very close, and Clint, like Tony, had to be extremely nervous. When he looked into Clint's eyes, he got his confirmation. Clint was agitated, anxious, and his lips were pressed together, as if he was trying to supress strong emotions. His eyes were bloodshot and watering slightly, which he wasn't sure the man realized or not. Steve swallowed, put off. He hadn't seen Clint like this in a while, not since before the second snap, and it wasn't an attitude he ever cared to see again. He was probably worried that he'd lose another person he cared about. He had never been the same after watching his family fade away. None of them had.

"You know and we know that she's strong and smart," Steve supplied. "She can handle herself until we find her."

Clint nodded, though his chest seemed to be tightening with every breath. _Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in, breathe out._

\--

Alex once more banged her head against the cold metal tunnel. "Ow," She murmured, more irritated than hurt. _You'd think that after crawling around in these vents for weeks that I'd have instincts at this point. _She rolled her eyes.

After encountering Clint during his adventure through the vents in the Nerf Gun War, she'd decided to check things out for herself. Evidently, Clint had been crawling around in them for years, and even had little labels taped to every turn or split of the maze. They mapped out exactly where every tube went, making travel much easier. The vents also provided excellent opportunities for pranks. Clint was always jumping out from around corners and scaring people, and Alex had never been able to get him. But, the first time she'd dropped out of the vents, he'd shrieked like a first soprano. She grinned, remembering she'd recorded the whole thing.

Alex was still heading towards the Commons. She'd never been in the vents when the entire Compound had no power, and it was darker than ink in the metal shaft. She could barely see _anything_. The only illumination came from the slightly lighter hallways visible through ceiling vents. There were slitted openings about every ten feet or so, and she'd look down whenever she crawled over one. She'd check that Tom was still there, slinking against the wall. He was slightly ahead of her, walking being faster than crawling.

And then, ten seconds, ten feet more, and he wasn't in the hallway anymore. He'd disappeared and in the next moment she realized why.

A chorus of screams. Four eardrum-shattering gunshots.

She dropped flat on her stomach, instinctively covering her head. When the shots stopped, she desperately wanted to move but didn't. If she did, whoever had guns below would hear her and she could tell by their voices that it wasn't any of the Avengers or Tom or Sam. She could also tell, without having to see, that they had just murdered at least four people based on the screams and the number of shots.

Alex squeezed her eyes shut and then, against her better judgment, inched forward to the slitted opening of a ceiling tile. She peeked down at the hallway below her. Tom was nowhere to be found. However, she still almost gasped, slapping a hand over her mouth. There were six men talking to each other standing over four bodies.

The bodies were two women and two men, all dead. Bullet holes decorated their torsos and heads, blood staining their clothes and the floor. Alex thought about how the people had been, judging by the dirtied uniforms they wore, innocent cleaning crew in the wrong place at the wrong time. Tearing her eyes away from the bodies and forcing herself to focus on the talking men, she zeroed in on their conversation.

"You see how easy that was?" One of them gestured to the bodies. "I'm just saying, why can't we kill a few Avengers while we're here?"

Another one stepped up and grabbed the collar of his uniform roughly. "You stupid little shit! With those gunshots, you just told them exactly where we are! And that's just what we needed, after _that one_ tripped the perimeter alarm." He turned and pointed at another one of the men. "We could have gone in, got the kids, and went out, now thanks to you dumbasses that's not an option!"

"Jesus Christ, Hitch," the guy who's collar he was holding mumbled.

"That's right," The man-_Hitch_?- said. " I'm not messing around here. I got money riding on this job. We find Avrie, Synde and Ballow and take them alive, got that? _Alive_. If we come across anybody try to avoid them, kill them if you have to, but no guns. Too loud. Do not, and I'll repeat myself, _DO NOT _actively seek out the Avengers. That's not the mission we were hired to complete."

"Fine." The held man grumbled, and Hitch released him.

When Alex heard her own name, she stopped breathing. The men scrambled away and she pulled back from the opening of the vent. Momentarily paralyzed and trying to think, she laid her forehead down on the tops of her folded hands. The men seemed to be heading the same way as her, so she couldn't go to the Commons anymore. Alex waited a few more minutes for Tom to reappear, but he never did. He'd, of course, abandoned her. She wasn't surprised.

She ran through the facts she knew. The Compound was being attacked. The guys with guns, who had just murdered people, were looking for her and the boys. They had to take them alive. They'd willingly kill more innocent people. None of that really sounded great- even being taken alive. There were some places-some people-that she'd rather die than see again.

\--

Every time Sam had tried that stupid parkour couse, it had ended badly.

The first time, he'd pulled a muscle in his right arm struggling in vain to make it across the swinging rings section of the course and couldn't try it again until two weeks later. As if that wasn't embarrassing enough, he took a headfirst dive into the foam block pit the second time. His torso and head were stuck in the blocks and his legs were sticking straight up in the air. He was lucky he'd been able to breathe. Steve ended up having to yank him out by the ankle. Captain America had rescued him from a _Foam. Block. Pit_. That was probably his most embarrassing moment in the entirety of his time here on Earth.

The third, fourth, fifth, and sixth time, he'd only been able to make it through the first fourth of the course before falling and earning a new bruise. From his place on the ground, he'd had the privilege of watching Alex complete the entire thing in half a minute, like it was as easy as breathing for her. So annoying.

In short, the course was his own personal hell, so it only made sense that sirens went off the second he'd broken his personal distance record on it, causing him to topple in surprise. Insomnia was being a bitch, as always, so Sam had decided to be productive and practice on the course without the eyes of the Avengers on him. _Less pressure,_ he'd thought. Apparently not.

He'd screamed, "Shit!" as he went down, almost missing FRIDAY's announcement. _Fortunately_, he just caught it. If he had thought the things through clearly afterwards, Sam would have gone to that very same blockpit that he'd once been stuck in and buried himself until whatever situation happening was over. Perfect hiding spot. _Unfortunately_, he'd decided to be a complete dumbass and abandon his only refuge, opting to stroll through the hallways. Now he was frantically sprinting away from six guys with some serious anger issues and, more importantly, guns.

Everything had been going great until he'd head the gunshots- two hallways away from him. He'd headed in the opposite direction as the blasts, but before he knew it the men appeared at the other end of the hallway he was in. They ran towards him so Sam did the logical thing- ran away from them. They could obviously shoot him down very quickly if they wanted, but they hadn't even raised their guns. That meant they wanted him alive, if he was even the person they were looking for.

Sam's ADHD brain was on overdrive full time, but during the night it lit up like a christmas tree. He had a lot of pent up energy to spend. That, paired with the insane fear of six strangers with automatic rifles chasing him, made him run so fast that he probably could have been an olympic sprinter. He couldn't afford to be caught, there was no way he'd be able to fight off four guys at once. One, probably. Two, maybe. Six? That's funny. He couldn't call for the Avengers- if they were even anywhere near him- because he couldn't breathe due to the running or the panic or maybe both.

Despite his newfound track star skills, the men were gaining. He had nowhere to go- there was nothing to hide behind in the bare corridors and he couldn't stop to try and open a supply closet door. What if it was locked? Then he'd really be in trouble.

A few seconds after he rounded a corner, out of sight of his pursuers, he felt a hand yank him back by a fistful of his black and white Nike Windrunner jacket. He would have yelled but the other hand slammed over his mouth and the person dragged him into one of the dark supply closets he'd just been thinking about. They pushed him against the wall, placing a firm forearm over his chest, pinning him. They then kicked the door shut with their foot. Thankfully it didn't make a sound as it closed.

It was still too dark to see who had just kidnapped him, and Sam stayed completely still, hoping it was one of the Avengers and not another attacker. He really didn't want to die. Or be captured. He wasn't sure which would be worse.

The stranger didn't take their hand off of his mouth or turn the light on until a chorus of pounding feet passed by the closet, chasing after a boy who wasn't running from them anymore. When the person did flip the lights on and release him, Sam backed away quickly. He was a little surprised, but not about who it was. Of course it'd be Alex, who constantly snuck around as if she had something to be dashing away from, that would pull him into a dark closet and away from the imminent threat. No, he was surprised by her appearance. There was the fact that he'd never seen her wearing a sports bra before, but that wasn't the point. He was able to see her bare back when she leaned down to peer through the crack under the doorway after the men passed and he inhaled sharply.

There were dozens of jagged scars crisscrossing her skin, starting just under her shoulder blades and ending in various places above the waistline of her leggings. The wounds that caused the blemishes were definitely long gone, but he guessed that they didn't heal correctly the first time around. He knew a little bit about scars from past experiences, but nothing like this. Some tracks even looked like they'd been allowed to heal, and then reopened. Others seemed fainter and older. His mind began to race. It wasn't probable that she did it herself, based on the places the cuts were. Sam realized with dawning disgust that it was more likely that someone had taken a knife to her back. Intentionally. It was at that moment that Alex chose to turn around, the scars twisting with her back sickeningly.

She had been about to say something, but stopped when she saw the look on his face. Sam imagined it was something of utter desolation. Her eyebrows furrowed in concern. "What's wong? Are you hurt?"

"Am I hu-? No!" He paused and swallowed, not really sure what to say. He always knew what to say. It was like he forgot the entire english language when Alex looked at him so expectantly. "I just..." He gestured to her back, but she didn't seem to get what he was trying to ask.

She swiveled to a standing position and put her hands on her hips defensively. "Look, I've already had to deal with Tom's opinion about my outfit, so I don't really need yours, too. I was training, okay? It's not like I-"

"That's not what…" Sam interrupted. "Your back. What happened to your back?"

Before he could even get the full sentence out, her face turned from irritated to absolutely furious. "That's not your business." She responded tightly, looking as if she'd rather punch him in the nose than say another word. She crossed her arms over her chest after flipping the lock on the door rather aggressively.

Sam threw his hands up in surrender, finally regaining some of his composure. "Sorry! Didn't mean to intrude. Just wondered, that's all." Suddenly, he noticed she was shivering. Whether from the stress of the situation or his question or the actual temperature, he wasn't sure. Nonetheless, he quickly shrugged out of his jacket, revealing his black t-shirt underneath, and held it out to Alex. She hesitated for a few seconds but took it, slipping into it quickly. It was way too big, but at least she looked a little more comfortable after a moment. Sam could imagine why, he wouldn't want to fight mercenaries only wearing a sports bra either. How uncomfortable.

"Thanks," She muttered.

"Thank _you_." He shot back, "For pulling me in here. How did you know I was coming by?"

"I was in the vents," Alex replied and Sam raised a questioning eyebrow. "Traveling is surprisingly faster through them. I saw you running, assumed this is the way you'd go, and dropped into this closet." She pointed to a vent cover in the ceiling near the back wall. "If you'd turned into the hallway to the left of this, they probably would have caught you."

"Good thing I chose right," Sam would have smiled but the stress of the situation prohibited it. "What's going on anyways?"

Alex leaned heavily against the door as if the attackers would try and burst in at any moment. "Here's the thing," She swallowed nervously. "If I tell you, you can't freak out."

Sam groaned, irritated and abruptly pissed. "You know what, Alex," He exclaimed. "There were people shooting _guns_, strangers that are here in the middle of the night and I'm not crying or having a panic attack so I think it's safe to say that I can handle anything you tell me. What the fuck is happening?" He demanded.

Alex rolled her eyes and muttered, "Jeez. You don't have to get so angry about it."

"_ME_?"

"Shhh!" Alex slapped her hand over his mouth again, and he guessed he had yelled. "Get yourself under control!" She hissed, and he grabbed her wrist, annoyed. He didn't need to be told when to shut up. At the touch, she jerked away from him as if he had snapped it. "They're looking for us," Alex blurted. "I heard the six men that were chasing you talking earlier. They're supposed to find you, me and Tom and take us alive."

Sam was dumbfounded. He hadn't been expecting that. "Take us… to where?"

"I… I don't know." It seemed difficult for her to say. "That's all they said. I think we should go back toward the Residence, though that could be where they are heading-"

"Wait, hold on," Sam stuck out his hands in confusion. She gave him a look that said she was very put out by his interruption but he continued anyway. "You mean you think we should go back into the halls? The halls where I was just getting chased by the very people we should be trying to avoid?"

"Mhm," She nodded. "I can't just sit in here." She gestured around at the mops leaning against the left wall and the stacks of toilet paper sitting on industrial level shelves. "The Avengers have to be looking for us. Tom wasn't in his room either, he was at the gym with me earlier-"

"Where did he go?"

"He abandoned me, duh." She frowned in agitation as if it should have been obvious. "_The point is_, if the Avengers are out there looking for us, I can't leave them to fight a conflict that's happening because of me. Can you?"

Sam stood there, thinking. As much as he hated to admit it, she made a good point. If those men were here to capture him and Tony got hurt trying to take them down, he'd feel responsible. Still, wouldn't Tony hate it if he went into the hallways again? Tony would want him to be safe, as would Clint with Alex. He bit the inside of his cheek, frustrated.

Apparently, Sam thought for too long because Alex crossed quickly to the closet door. "You can stay here if you want, but I'm leaving." She grabbed the handle and was about to twist it when Sam shot forward and clutched her wrist again. She tried to jolt away but he held tighter this time.

"You're seriously going to go back out there?" He hissed. "You're crazy!"

"I never claimed to be sane. LET ME GO!" She basically screamed the last part and then immediately pressed a hand to her mouth.

"No!" Sam whispered back. "If I do, you'll get yourself killed. I can't let that happen."

Alex's eyes hardened. "I can make my own decisions." That was it for her. Her own hand closed around his wrist and twisted mercilessly. Sam let go of her with an almost inaudible yelp, forcing himself to stay quiet. The pain was excruciating, but thankfully very fleeting. Staring straight at him, she muttered, "Don't ever touch me without my permission or I promise I'll do worse." Leaving Sam on that happy note, she sprinted into the hallway after a quick glance both ways.

He hesitated, thinking, _all I did was grab your wrist. What is your problem? _He should've said it out loud, maybe he'd finally get some answers. He thought that maybe the way she acted had something to do with what she wouldn't tell him at Easter. What she only told the people closest to her. He knew one thing for sure, at least- he wouldn't be touching her anytime soon. He'd seen her completely destroy training simulations during combat sessions and he didn't ever want to face her wrath. If she did hurt him more seriously one day, would the Avengers even do anything about it? They always seemed to take her side.

He rolled his eyes, deciding that even if she was frustrating and confusing and irritating, he couldn't just leave her to roam the Compound alone. Besides, if they stuck together, they'd probably have a better chance at surviving. _Do what Tony would do, do what Tony would do._ Sam sighed heavily and followed Alex out of the closet.

\--

Neither of them had said a word since the closet, but they were almost to the stairwell. After that, they would be able to climb all the way up to the Residence. Luckily, Alex had remembered her key card when she'd left and Sam hadn't, like a goddamn amateur. They were under attack and he hadn't even remembered his ID.

When Sam would start to think too heavily, he'd get lost in a maze of his own thoughts. The labyrinth had its pros and cons, of course, just like everything else. Sometimes, he'd find the exit and have an awesome new invention in his arms. Unfortunately, he could become very lost and the world around him died when that happened. He also couldn't control when he ventured into his mind maze, it kind of just happened occasionally.

Usually, it would be fueled by stress or frustration with himself, and there was plenty of that in his current situation, so Dadelus sucked him in once again. He started to simultaneously design a new alarm system for the Compound while also wondering how his parents would feel if he were to be kidnapped or died.

_They would care of course, they're my parents. Even if they don't act like it sometimes, they'd be worried. Maybe I need to do something to upgrade or fix the Compound's generators, they don't seem to be working. The Avengers would tell mom and dad if I were kidnapped, wouldn't they? I wonder if they'd actually help the Avengers look for me, or if they'd carry on with their business meetings. Either seems equally likely. I could check out the generators after this whole shit-show is over, though I can't imagine Tony failing to possess the latest and best version of something. Mom and dad always hated it when I swore. I should probably call them sometime, though if one of their assistants answers their personal cell phones again, I _**will**_ scream. I wonder where they are right now. Probably sleeping, but they could be in a different time zone. How does one even knock the power out, anyways? It'd have to be an extremely high EMP to accomplish this. I think I'll make myself a Souffle once everything is up and running again. I'm craving. Or maybe I'll go to my lab. Souffles are great but new inventions are better. I can't believe mom doesn't like souffles. Wait! I have to check up on the generator thing. What was I thinking about before? Oh, right, inventions and Souffles. Well, I could do all three. Dad always said that multitasking will leave the world asking or whatever. I could make a raspberry souffle. Mmmm, yes. I wonder if I could make shoes that allow you to bounce really high. There's not really a practical use for those, but they sound fun so maybe I'll design them while I'm eating my-_

Alex snatched the collar of his shirt and wrenched him back. He stumbled, almost falling over and yelled, "_What the-_" With a start he realized that the men with guns were running straight down the hallway they had just turned into, and neither Alex nor himself had noticed they were there until it was too late.

She continued to pull him away from the attackers until he got his bearings and turned to sprint alongside her. He almost couldn't keep up with her, which was ridiculos, because he was literally a foot taller than her. Her short legs should have slowed her down but she was zooming faster than any olympic sprinter.

"Where were you?" She screamed at him, her stress manifesting strongly. "I was talking to you and it was like you couldn't hear me or something!"

"Mind maze!" He yelled back, and she made a face. He shook his head and puffed, "I'll tell you later!" Sam tried to think, make a plan, and could tell she was trying to do the same thing. Her eyebrows were scrunched together in concentration. Unfortunately, it seemed as if they were both coming up empty.

Suddenly, Sam grunted as something large and heavy hit him in the back. It packed a punch and sent him flying forward, smacking onto the ground with a cry. The object clattered to a standstill five feet away from him and he realized it was an automatic. One of the guys had _thrown his fucking gun at him._ Sam frantically reached for the weapon, searching for anything to defend himself, but an attacker caught up to him quickly. He stomped a boot down on Sam's forearm and Sam hissed through his teeth. He glanced up to see where Alex was.

She had skidded to a halt a little ways away from him and watched as the guy, still standing over Sam, picked up his gun. She seemed unsure of how to handle things, but the hesitation only lasted for a second. Then, she did something Sam would never have done. She charged the entire group of six men.

Sam's captor seemed very surprised by her sudden action and went down hard onto his back when she flew into him. She took his hair and smashed his head against the floor, knocking him out. She moved onto the next guy, kicking him into the wall and leaving him gasping for air. How she was able to kick all 250 pounds of him with that much force, Sam had no idea.

Despite that, he decided that she wouldn't be able to handle four more guys by herself. Sam was still on the floor, but that actually gave him an advantage. When the next attacker came forward to grab him, he knocked the man's legs out from under him and leaped over him, trying the same hair/head slam thing Alex had done with the first dude.

It didn't work.

Sam yelled in frustration and the man, though dazed, grabbed Sam's forearms and flipped him over. He could see Alex from that angle, delivering three quick jabs to one guy's throat, chest, and stomach and the dude crumpled. He turned his attention back to his own fight. He squirmed away from a punch just in time and strained against the guy, but he wasn't letting up. He had one arm pinning Sam's, and another over his throat. It was getting hard to breathe. Though the man was gripping his arms, his legs were still free. He would pass out soon if he didn't do something. He could hear Alex screaming. Another attacker now had his arms wrapped around her torso and was trying to drag her away. _He had to help_. Sam didn't particularly like using the next move on other guys, but he was running out of options. He took his foot and kicked him violently in the sweet spot. Finally, the man's eyes widened and he keeled over, conveniently knocking himself out as his temple cracked against the marble floor.

Feeling pretty pleased with himself, he realized with immediate horror that he couldn't hear Alex screaming anymore. _Had they gotten her?!?_ He whipped around, panicked, but all he found was her standing over five unconscious bodies. Sam gawked. "But how- wait, you were just… I don't…"

She shrugged nonchalantly, though he could see the exhaustion in her face. "I've had more training than you."

Shaking his head, Sam stared at her. "You handled five of the… five! I barely beat one! I was almost suffocated!" He gasped.

"I think that's a little bit of an exaggeration," She smirked. "You seem okay to me." She touched a bleeding gash in her forehead curiously, as if just noticing it was there. It looked like it would need stitches. "Well, that's not preferable."

Sam braced himself on the floor, pushing up to a standing position with a little difficulty. The arm over his throat felt like it hadn't gone away. He rubbed his neck tenderly, sure that a bruise would form soon. His hands were shaking severely and he clenched his fists, attempting to hide it. Alex still noticed.

"Hey… you're okay. We got them." She said softly.

"I know!" Sam exclaimed, a little too loudly. "Yeah, I'm fine." He blinked, trying to focus on her instead of what just happened. "I don't ever want to be on your bad side. Like, I've seen you do that stuff in training but… Hey, you'll have to teach me how to do that hit hit hit thing!" Sam made a punching motion with his hand three times. "That man just fell! Did Natasha teach you that?"

She paused. "...Yes."

Sam frowned. "You hesitated."

"No, I didn't."

"Yes you did!"

"No, I- Let's just go!" She turned around swiftly. "We're almost back to the Residence."

Sam deflated. _Why had she hesitated? What was she not telling him? _There was something, he just knew it. He had no idea what it was, but every time he'd mention something about her secrecy she'd get all snippy and defensive. He wondered if it had anything to do with the scars. He'd find out one day. He'd wear her down eventually, just like everyone else. Sure, she might be a tougher case, but no one was unbreakable. He smirked playfully. She brought out the worst in him, but competition was his default setting. She was getting farther away from him, so he decided he'd better follow her and get away from the pile of mercenaries.

Before Sam could even take one step, the guy who he thought he'd knocked out grabbed his ankle and yanked _hard_. Sam's legs flew out from under him and he fell face first, smacking his forehead on the unforgiving marble floor, effectively dazing him. He groaned with surprise. He hadn't been expecting that. All he wanted was his freaking raspberry souffle. There was blood splattered across the ground in front of him, from his own nose that he could tell was definitely broken. _Raspberries are kind of red, _he thought wistfully.

Apparently he had cried out, because Alex turned to look at him and check out whatever distressed sound he'd made, completely missing the seventh man who charged around the corner at her. Sam had no idea where he'd come from. He smashed the butt of his gun into the back of her head before she even realized he was there. She crumpled to the ground and the attacker scooped her up, throwing her small figure over his shoulder like a fucking rag doll.

Sam tried to push himself up. _He had to help her, he had to get help, he had to help himself! _Unfortunately, his arms failed him and he fell back down. The bloodstained marble floor and the man marching away with Alex were the last things he saw before his guy smacked his face into the ground again and everything faded to black.

——

A bit of a cliffhanger on this one! I've never really written combat before, so hopefully I did okay! I really appreciate those reviews!


	18. 17Chapter17

Hey. If you're still with me at this point, you are dedicated!! Thank you so much. I hit a major motivation crisis, which is why I dropped off the map for a while. I apologize about that. Anyways, enjoy this chapter, and leave a review of you enjoy it!

——————

The first thing Alex became aware of was throbbing pain in her temple. The second- a low rumbling coming from the floor she was lying flat on her back on. From the bumps and vibrations, it was a fair guess that she was in the back of the vehicle. She opened her eyes but all she could see was the walls of the dark square she was currently confined to. Standing up turned out to be a bust, as a wave of nausea forced her back down before she could even sit up. The zip ties around her wrists didn't help either. She pushed a few breaths out her nose and peered around, focusing on anything to be observed.

She didn't know if she found it more relieving or disappointing that Sam and Tom were with her in the truck. The last thing she'd thought before the kidnapper knocked her out besides 'oh shit' was that she hoped Sam could get away. No such luck. He was standing, back to Alex, near the doors of the, she assumed, industrial box truck. As for Tomen, she had imagined that he made it back to the Residence with no trouble, but of course that hadn't been realistic.

Tom was sitting against the left wall, eyes squeezed shut. His face was twisted in pain, left hand pressed against his right arm. A difficult feat, seeing as restraints were also circling his wrists. Alex squinted through the darkness and quickly saw why. There was a wound on his bicep, a bullet hole, and there was a lot of blood. It streaked down his arm and pooled on the floor. The bouncing of the vehicle probably wasn't helping anything.

Alex tried again to rise, and this time she succeeded. She still felt a little dizzy, so she sort of stumbled over to Tom before collapsing next to him and leaning her head against the wall. His gaze flicked to her for a moment before he closed his eyes again. Alex inspected what she could see of the wound. Angry, red. "How are you doing?"

"How does it look like I'm doing, Alexandra?" He snapped, swallowing. "They shot at me, I guess they hit their mark. At least you're _finally_ awake. Did you have a nice nap," He sneered, then jerked his head towards Sam, who was standing at the doors of the container fiddling with some kind of electric panel. "Maybe you can help him get us out of here, because he certainly _isn't making much progress_!"

He directed the last part at Sam who spun around immediately, eyebrows knit. Blood was dripping from his nose, and a few drops stained his shirt. His hands were shaking violently, from frustration, stress, shock, probably all three. "I'm trying my best," He shouted. "An hour I've been standing here, while you sit there groaning like a baby! At least I'm trying to do something!"

"We could be out of New York right now," Tom grunted. "I don't care how scared you are, you're supposed to be a genius! Get your shit together!"

Sam rolled his eyes so hard that Alex thought he was passing out for a moment. "Last time I checked, you were personally picked by Tony, too, why can't you help? It's not like that bullet wound is so bad anyways! And I _am_ a genius. This might be a little easier if I could feel my hands. These ties are so tight that they went numb half an hour ago." He held up his bound wrists.

"That's actually a good thing," Alex murmured as she got up. "Not that your hands are numb," She clarified, "But that the ties are tightened. That skips one step."

"Oh, don't tell me," Sam shot her an incredulous look, "You know how to get out of zipties?" He shook his head.

She opened her mouth to retort but bit her tongue instead, taking the pull of the tie between her teeth and tightening it like Sam's. She raised both arms above her head and thrusted downward, the ties breaking easily upon contact. She blinked away the spots that danced around in her peripheral due to the quick motion. "Ta da," She deadpanned when the lights disappeared.

Sam's jaw all but dropped. "You have to be kidding me! Is there anything you can't do? Like seriously, I'd love to know!"

"Do what I just did," She responded plainly.

Sam hesisted. "Will it hurt?"

"Just do it!" She hissed.

He jumped at her tone and repeated the motion swiftly. It didn't work on his first attempt, but with the second, the tie snapped and fell to the ground. Sam rubbed his raw wrists tenderly, glancing back at the panel. "Ya know, everyone is into electric locks these days which is all great until someone tries to short circuit them to break out of the back of a truck. I can't find the right wire, though." He shook his hands, trying to regain feeling, and started digging around in the panel again. "I mean, honestly, are these kidnappers amateurs? They put a known technological genius in close proximity with an easily accessed electrical panel and they couldn't even use handcuffs to disable us- don't get me wrong, I'm pretty happy about it but…"

Alex did her best to tune out Sam's rambling-which seemed to be a defense mechanism-and pressed her forehead against the freezing metal wall, taking relief in the cold. She definitely had a concussion, that she was sure about. Nausea, dizziness, balance issues. Textbook head injury. Sam seemed to be fine, except for his nose. Upon closer inspection, she noticed the awkward angle it was set at. He had dried blood all down his chin and lips that he hadn't bothered to wipe off yet. Tom had the bullethole, obviously, but also looked unnaturally pale. His eyes were squeezed shut again, jaw set. They'd need to clean out the wound and get some bandaging on it eventually.

"Tom," She called quietly, not moving from the wall. Sam stopped droning about the horrors of amateur mercenaries to listen. "You said we've been here for at least an hour, right?" He nodded. "Were you also unconscious but woke up before Sam or I did?" He nodded again. "Okay," She muttered, "Okay, so that means we have no idea how long we've been in this vehicle. Great."

"The Avengers will be looking for us," Sam said, though he didn't sound like he even believed it.

Tom grunted. "Whoever these people are shut down FRIDAY. We're lucky if anyone even knows we're gone."

"That alarm went off, so hopefully they realized _something_ was wrong." Sam paused, fingers hovering over the panel. "That's another thing. These people shut down FRIDAY but they tripped the perimeter alarm? Imagine being so careless that the one thing you absolutely shouldn't..."

She decided to drown him out again. She really didn't care about how competent the kidnappers were at their jobs, she cared that she was in the back of their truck, and his endless chatter was putting her on edge. She gagged once, swallowing the vomit that tried to erupt. A pile of puke on the floor of their confined space would probably make them all sick. _Not productive_. Instead, she opted to think of Peter, who needed her. Her little brother depended on her for everything. She was the only person he had left. There was Cass, of course, but their cousin could only get so far with him. Alex was alone in truly knowing Peter. If she went missing, if she ended up dead- what would he do? She had to get out of here, for him, and for the Avengers. She couldn't disappoint them, either. Though her current situation was irritating and just the tiniest bit worrying, it could also provide an adequate opportunity to prove herself. To show Earth's Mightiest Heroes that she was more than a weak child. That Clint had made the right choice.

Suddenly, Sam's troubled expression filled her field of vision. His hand was snaking around her head, and she lashed out and caught it in a viper-like grip. His eyes startled before zeroing in on hers. She gave the slightest shake of her head and he swallowed. Neither of them moved.

"I apologize," He managed. "I forgot… that you don't want me to touch you… it's just that… your head." Sam glanced at his hand, and she hesitantly let go, studying his face. Something about it made her want to trust him, but that was ridiculous. He was Sam, he was annoying and frustrating and aggravating but the way he was regarding her… with concern but no pity… she hadn't seen that look in a long while. She nodded again, but this time it was a gesture of permission. After a moment he touched his fingertips to the back of her skull. She almost flinched, but she'd be damned if she admitted any pain. He pulled his hand away, frowning at it before turning his palm to Alex. His fingertips were stained with blood. _Her_ blood. _Great. Now we can all bleed together. What a wonderful opportunity._

Suddenly, Sam stumbled forward, grabbing her arms for stability. She managed not to jerk away this time, instead focusing on Tom who was now in front of the panel. He was fiddling with the wires using his not-shot arm, a smug smile painted across his lips. He'd pushed Sam, and Sam was just realizing this too. She watched fury grow instantaneously in his eyes, launching himself at Tom. Alex moved faster though, throwing an arm around the base of his neck. Not enough to cut off his airway, but enough to restrain him.

He struggled to regain control of his own body, grunting in anger. She put her lips by his ear. "Beat him up later, I don't care," She hissed. "But not now. We need to work together. Fighting is counterproductive."

Sam muscled her off. "Tell that to him." He jutted his chin toward Tom, glaring at Alex. Whatever moment they'd had was gone.

"I merely stepped in," Tom shrugged innocently, though he retained his stupid smirk. "You seemed a little..." His eyes flicked over to Alex for the briefest of moments. "Distracted." He finished. Alex wrinkled her nose at the implication and Sam opened his mouth to retort but Tom continued before he could. "You can both stay in this truck if you prefer, but I'm escaping." As he worked on the wires, blood dripped from his wound.

Alex frowned deeply. _Back to the sports bra_, she supposed, shrugging out of the Nike jacket Sam had given her in that supply closet. The latter followed her movements, and gasped when she abruptly ripped the left arm free from the jacket. "Hey!" He shrieked. "What the fuck? That was expensive!"

"Oh please, Trust Fund," Tom rolled his eyes. "Can't Mommy or Daddy pay for a new one?"

"I don't take their money anymore," He spit back.

That comment surprised Alex. Sam _never_ acted like the stuck-up rich-kid only child who could have literally whatever he wanted. _Never_. She smirked at her own sarcasm and set her jaw, trying to keep her thoughts on track. "Regardless, we have more pressing matters than the preservation of your jacket. I'll buy you a new one. But for now," She strode over to Tom, flipping the sleeve around his arm and tying it tight before he could resist, "We need a tourniquet."

Tom's mouth twisted with distaste and pain, but he didn't remove the cloth. He was too focused on touching two wires together. When he did, a few sparks flew before the doors of the truck blew open. He grinned genuinely this time. "Time to go!"

Sam looked around like he was expecting the truck to stop. "Go where? You mean out the back? This truck is going pretty fast. Have either of you ever jumped out of a moving vehicle before?" He asked sarcastically.

"Yes," Tom and Alex answered in unison. They glanced at each other, sharing a look.

"Oh." Sam swallowed. "I meant that as kind of rhetorical question but whatever," He muttered. "Of course you have. So, how do I do this?"

Alex made a quick analysis of her surroundings. Forest on either side of an asphalt road. That was it. "We'll try to land on the grass, it's softer than the road. Do not land on your feet. Hold your arms against your torso, fists under the chin, aim to land on an angle. Don't jump straight out. Once you hit the ground, tuck and roll."

"And please don't pass out," Tom muttered. "Chances are that once we've escaped, they'll start chasing us, and it'll be harder to run if we have to carry you. Assuming that we don't leave you behind."

Sam listened intently to all of her words, and grimaced at Tom's. Alex shot him an_ 'I will literally kill you' look before patting Sam on the back. "You can do this. Alright. Here we go."_

With that, Tom bailed, and they watched him tumble into the grass. Alex waited until Sam jumped to make sure he would before leaping herself.

\--

Alex had jumped out of a moving vehicle on exactly three occasions: One time she didn't want to think about, another time she didn't want to think about, and a third time she didn't want to think about. None of those had been fun, and this time wasn't the exception. She was doing it willingly this time, at least. It was like she expected every occurrence to hurt less, but it never did. At least she had landed in the grass. It felt like the skin was literally being ripped off her bare legs, but she wouldn't get roadburn. She squeezed her eyes shut and waited until she'd stopped rolling.

When her body came to a stop, she unclenched and blinked a few times. All that spinning hadn't been kind to her nausea. She flipped onto her stomach and pushed herself up onto her knees, groaning. Every appendage on her body was killing her, metaphorically anyways. She swallowed, coughed a few times, and located the boys.

Tom was already standing, slowly and carefully jogging toward her. He looked as though he might fall over again. Sam was a few feet away from her, looking dazed but otherwise okay. He sucked in a breath of air like he couldn't get enough, sitting up. He immediately flopped back down.

Alex got up on one knee, then the other, then up to standing. She walked unsteadily over to him and offered her hand. He stared at it like it was a foreign object before taking it. She pulled him up and he blinked rapidly. "I didn't pass out," He mumbled.

"No, you did not," Alex gave a short, awkward, burst of laughter. It was like she didn't even mean to make the sound, but it came out of her anyways. _Shock laughter_. She took a grounding breath, trying to focus. "We need to go." She jerked her head towards the woods just as Tomen got to them.

"I agree," He added, pointing toward the slowing truck a ways up the road from them. "They noticed us jumping out, unfortunately."

"Well shit," Sam said plainly.

All three of them turned at the same moment and started to run, if a little irregularly. The foliage was thick and the trees were dense, but Alex supposed that would make it harder for their captors to catch them. As they dodged red maples and patches of poison ivy, Alex announced, "We need to stay together, at all costs." Sam nodded in agreement. Tom didn't, shrugging instead, but she decided that was the best she'd likely get.

It was a little hard to see, it being three in the morning, but there was just enough light for the trio to make their way safely. After months of training with the Avengers, all three of them were in peak physical condition. Sprinting was no problem. Still, she could hear the boots and shouts of the kidnappers chasing after them, and it didn't seem like they were very far away. In fact, it seemed as if they were getting closer. Not ideal.

Sam seemed to notice this too, and started murmuring, "We cannot get caught. We cannot get caught. We cannot get caught. We cannot get caught," Over and over again.

Tommen shot him a murderous look. "Shut up!" He yelled.

That startled Sam out of his stupor, and unfortunately, so much so that he tumbled to the ground. A stray tree root was all it took to lay him flat. Alex and Tom continued sprinting and were already far ahead of him before they noticed he wasn't by their sides. Alex skidded to a halt once she realized his absence, aggressively shaking off Tom when he grabbed her forearm and tried to drag her with him.

"What are you doing, we need to go!" He yelled at her.

"But Sam- we lost him!" She said back. "We can't leave him!" Tomen looked around, also just realizing that Sam wasn't standing with them. Alex scanned the trees with increasing panic. She could definitively hear the shouts of their kidnappers now, and she dropped to the ground, pulling Tom with her, when she saw their flashlight beams pierce through the trees about 30 feet away. She couldn't see Sam anywhere. _They probably already had him, they probably-_

Suddenly, the boy's piercing shriek echoed through the forest. Alex's eyes widened and she shot to her feet. Without saying a word, she took off towards the source of the sound. She heard Tomen tromping through the foliage behind her. Once she got closer to the men, they noticed the pair, pointing and shouting orders. _Running straight at the enemy. What a night this was turning out to be._ Just as the first few kidnappers were upon her, she got a glimpse of Sam. One guy had a hold of him, attempting to shove a gag into his screaming mouth, but he was writhing too much for the man to have any success. His shrieks motivated her, and she started to tear through the enemies like a one woman army.

The first guy dropped in one second after she delivered three ounces of pressure to his Vagus Nerve. Out like a light. The second grabbed her wrist, but she countered with a hard jab to the trachea and he was on the ground, gasping for air. The third snatched her by the waist and threw her over his shoulder, so she used the momentum to twist around his body and grab his gun. She clocked him over the head with it, just what someone had done to her a couple of hours prior. The attack had the same effect, instant unconsciousness. The fourth man was a little tougher. It was while she was managing him that the shooting started. The sharp pops threw Alex off, and the guy whipped her to the ground. She rolled, narrowly avoiding a curled fist meant for her face, and flipped onto the man's back. Once she had both her hands on his head it was over for him. Without even registering what she was doing, she snapped his neck.

She was saved from the sickening crunching that would have accompanied the snapping bones by boisterous gunfire. Instead, the man's limp body fell silently. Alex blinked a few times, trying to analyze why he had suddenly gone still. _What did I do?_

There was no time to contemplate it. A bullet whizzed past her left ear, leaving an overwhelming ringing in her head. She couldn't think, she couldn't move, all she could do was drop to the ground on her knees and clamp her hands over her ears. No noise penetrated her bubble, only the intense whine. _From the bullet_, she registered vaguely, groaning and waiting for the pain to subside. Once it did, she looked in the direction the bullet had come from. Tomen was standing eight or nine feet behind her, holding a gun with his good arm and not moving. Around him were the bodies of their kidnappers, nine of them, all with a single bullethole in their foreheads. Besides the one she had… killed. Alex looked up at Tom with rising horror, and as their eyes connected, Tom dropped the gun. Alex heard a moan from the other direction and turned to see where it came from. Standing in front of her was Sam, covered in blood.

\--

"North corridor, sixth floor, clear," Steve announced clearly into his comm. His hope had begun to dim. Each team of Avengers was searching through their second floor at this point, and there'd been no sign of their kids. Each empty hallway or closet or room was like a punch to the gut. Thor and Bruce had found two men laid out dead on the first floor, which wasn't what they had hoped to discover. The guys weren't Stark Industries employees as far as they could tell from their automatic rifles and uniforms, but even more disturbing, their own guns had been used against them. That left two conclusions: either they had turned on each other, which seemed extremely unlikely, or someone else in the Compound had murdered them. Bruce had also reported spots of blood farther down the hallway, seeming to indicate that another person may have been shot and managed to drag themselves along. _Or been dragged away._ If that was the case, and if it was one of the kids, Steve didn't want to think about any of the three with bullet wounds.

The assumption made him swallow hard and he pushed the thought out of his mind as he turned the corner to the next hallway. He raised his shield, prepared for a fight, but there was no reason. The corridor was dreadfully, painfully empty, just like all the others. Blue walls, white ceiling and floor, a potted plant here and there, but no teenagers. Steve clutched the leather straps attached to the shield tighter. He could still hear Tony mumbling, even through the helmet, and it was grating on his nerves. Yet, he felt for the man. For his rough exterior, Tony could become attached pretty quickly, and Sam and Tomen were no exception. Steve could tell he cared for the boys as if they were his own, just like with Peter Parker and that kid- Harley. _His_ responsibility. _His_ kids.

Maybe this apprentice program wasn't such a good idea- Steve couldn't imagine willingly putting anyone in this type of situation, let alone a teenager. He was dreading the day he'd start training an apprentice, and he knew Natasha was, too. Thor and Bruce seemed to be waiting for the right person to come along and barely appeared concerned with the entire operation. He just couldn't understand. Clenching his jaw, Steve reflected that the program's immoral functionality was becoming abundantly clear with each passing day.

Suddenly, the lights flickered to life and he tensed, glancing quickly at Tony. The man exclaimed, "Eureka!" just loud enough for Steve to hear, helmet melting away from his face. "FRIDAY's back," he stated, and Steve picked up a few sighs of relief from his teammates.

"_So then where are they_?" Clint's voice carried forcefully through his earpiece. No sigh of relief from him, rather straight to the point. Steve suspected Barton wouldn't experience 'relief' until Alex was safe, standing in front of him. "_If FRIDAY is back online, she should be able to locate the kids, where **are** they?_" He demanded.

"Give me a sec," Tony responded, not even bothering to throw a snarky remark about Clint's tone back at the archer. The helmet assembled around his face again and he began jabbering away to the A.I. for about half a minute. The others waited impatiently. "Alright, so bad news," Tony finally said. Steve's jaw clenched even tighter, if possible. "The last locations FRIDAY has stored for them are as follows: Sam was in Gym 2, Alex and Tomen in Gym 1. Since FRI was then disabled, she couldn't track their progress through the building during the blackout."

After a moment, Natasha asked quietly, "_Their current locations?"_

Steve watched Tony grind his teeth in frustration before answering. "Not sure. Not in the Compound. No trace of them anywhere."

"_Well get your super fancy gadgets and find them!_" Clint shouted. The man's voice was so loud that Steve winced a little when it came through the comm, invading his eardrums. "_Jesus, wouldn't it be smart to have backup systems set in place in case there's a blackout?_" His tone dripped with sarcasm.

"I _do_ have systems." Tony growled. "Like you would know anything about them. Until you create billion dollar security systems and learn how to operate them, I'd pipe down, _Feathers_." Tony very pointedly used the nickname because he knew Clint hated it. In jest, Clint would play along, but if they were in the midst of an argument, it would only provoke him. Steve listened to the conversation with growing concern. They shouldn't be fighting at this moment, but rather united and committed to finding the kids. Yet, the two men were both stubborn as Hell, and wouldn't give even an inch. Before the next response, Steve could clearly imagine Clint's vivacious eye roll. They all saw it regularly.

"_There he goes again folks, flaunting his genius!_" Clint shot back, imitating a sports announcer. "_Even though his 'billion dollar security systems' don't work for shit_!"

"I would've had something to work off of if _someone_ had left a few of those bastards on the first floor alive, and we could be interrogating them-"

Clint basically snorted. "_Wait wait wait wait wait,_" He replied incredulously, "_Are you implying that it was Alex who shot those guys_?"

"You think Tomen or Sam killed them? Please, if it was any of the kids, it was Alex. You can't tell me that you can't see her taking the gun and-"

"_Really? Make-us-dinner-Alex, Dance-in-the-rain-Alex? Have you considered that your teen sociopaths might just be-_"

"Stop," Steve commanded, so firmly that both men shut up immediately. They had no evidence that the kids killed those men. The two were facing off based on hypotheticals now. "Arguing will not find your apprentices any faster. As for the issue of the dead men, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. For now," Tony was about to pipe up again but Steve shot him a fierce look and he opted for a frustrated huff. "We will finish searching and reassemble in Mission Control. We'll figure out our plan then."

There were mumbles of consent from every member of the team, then Natasha spitting some very angry Russian at Clint, who immediately apologized (To her and not to Tony, he might add). Steve didn't know what she'd said, but he did know what it was like to be on the receiving end of her scolds. She'd really reamed him out once after a mission, and Steve wished to repeat the experience _never_.

He placed one hand on a seething Tony's shoulder. "I know you're scared, Tony. But we need to remember priorities-"

Tony shrugged his hand off harshly. "I'm _fine_. Maybe you should talk to _Clint_ instead," He hissed. His nanotech morphed around his body and he shot off down the hallway, wanting to complete the rest of the search as quickly as possible. Steve shook his head. Whenever Tony said he was fine, they could count on him to be at his worst. The thing was, Steve didn't blame Tony or Clint for their arbitrary comments, fear could do terrible things to the victim's mind. Raising his shield a bit higher, he sprinted after Tony.

\--

Torso, hands, face, arms. The surface of Sam's body was speckled with dark, striking blood. "Oh my god," Alex whispered quietly, shooting up from the ground a little too fast. Her vision swam and she took a couple of unsteady steps forward, tripping over a body directly in front of Sam. She jerked her head upward after catching a glimpse of it, trying not to look at the man's head, because part of it was gone.

Once she reached Sam, she scanned him head to toe for bullet wounds, finding none. _Then why was he covered in blood_? His hands were out in front of him and he was staring at the blood like he was attempting to understand what the substance was. His teeth were chattering, a sign of shock and probably due to the cold. Even though it was early May, it was still only about 30-40 degrees, she'd guess. Slowly the pieces clicked into place in Alex's brain. The man laying on the ground at Sam's feet had been shot, and his blood and brain matter exploded all over Sam. But Sam hadn't fired the gun. Tom had.

_Pbt, pbt, pbt, pbt, pbt, pbt, pbt, pbt, pbt_. Alex jumped, knocking into Sam, as nine rapid bursts echoed through the quiet forest once more. He seemed unfazed by her sudden contact, and just kept staring at his hands. Alex, however, spun on Tom. The psycho had shot all the men a second time. He was leaning casually against a tree and actually had the audacity to tip up the gun and blow off the tip like there was smoke.

"What the _hell_?" Alex hissed. "They were already dead!"

"Doubletap," He responded, smirking slightly. "First rule of Zombieland."

She grimaced at his movie reference. Alex wanted to scream at him that this wasn't Zombieland, and she would have, if puke hadn't clawed its way up her throat. She keeled over once more and emptied the half digested sandwich she'd eaten for dinner last night into the grass. As much as she hated turning her back on Tom, especially when he had a gun, she had to get her nausea under control. Maybe giving in to it would help. Once she managed to stop heaving, she wiped her mouth with a few leaves and stood back up.

Glaring at Tom, she turned to the other boy. "Sam," she said softly. "Hey, Sam." She grabbed one of his hands and put her own against his cheek, trying to jar something in his brain. When he wouldn't look away from his bloody hands, she physically moved his head to look at her. "It's not your blood. You're not hurt. You're okay."

"They're not." Sam whispered the phrase so quietly that Alex almost didn't hear him. "They're not okay." He glanced away from Alex for a moment to stare at the man at their feet before flipping back to her. "He _shot_ them. They're not okay, they're _dead_."

Alex grimaced. "I know, and we will deal with that later. But right now-"

"He shot them!" Sam's voice rose in anger. "You killed them!" He yelled at Tom, charging a few steps forward.

Alex caught him and forced him to halt, her own 5'2'' barricade. She started grabbed his arm and pushed him along in the direction she assumed the road was in. The road meant they could head back in whatever direction they came from, maybe find a city or town. She refused to look at Tom, so the only way she could tell he was following them was his incessant whistling. And the song "Mad World", too- even better. Steam was basically shooting out of Sam's ears, and she had to whisper gentle reassurances to him for a little while before he calmed down and slipped back into a dissociated state. Not exactly what she wanted, but at least he didn't want to kill Tom anymore. Though it took all of her being to not break his nose herself.

Wandering through the woods was not all it was cracked up to be. In such sparse clothing, all of them were starting to numb after 40 minutes out in the New York night. Alex was worried about hypothermia, but hopefully the trio wouldn't be in the forest long enough to achieve that. The mud was atrocious, seeping into her shoes and caking skin up to her ankles. Not to mention the darkness. In the heat of adrenaline, the light from the moon had been satisfactory in order to make their way confidently, but now? Trudging slowly across an uncertain plain, there barely seemed enough. She and Sam had fallen a couple of times. She was still pushing to get him to move, and he wasn't looking where he was going, so when he hit a branch or rock in front of him they both went down. Tom only smirked.

That's why it felt so copasetic when the smug bastard fell off an embankment. He was a few feet in front of Sam and Alex, swatting bushes away from his face, when he suddenly dropped like a stone with a loud grunt, hitting water with a splash. The hidden creek was only seven or eight inches deep so unfortunately, he didn't get completely drenched. Still, Alex offered her hand, which of course, Tom refused. He moved to the other side of the creek and took to wringing out his clothes and washing all the blood off his arm, completely ignoring her. Luckily, the bleeding from his would seemed to have stopped. Sam remained on the edge of the embankment, stuck in his own head.

Alex placed a hand on his shoulder and shoved him down. Twenty minutes of dragging him around and she was done being gentle. She ripped off the other sleeve of the Windrunner and stuck it in the water, letting it soak and wringing the excess droplets out of the cloth. Hoping to perceive some sort of acknowledgement, she scrubbed his face with it, blood flecking off. She avoided his broken nose, but cleaned off the blood staining his upper lip and mouth that had dripped from it initially. Halfway done, she paused. Nothing. Eyes, empty.

She sighed. "Drawing," She said simply. "You asked me if there was anything I'm bad at back in the truck. I can't draw."

It took a moment, but Sam whispered, "Seriously?" Alex smiled a bit, relieved that she finally broke through. She had tried saying anything and everything in the last forty minutes to elicit a reaction, but of course the only time he actually responded was when she admitted to being bad at something. He rolled his eyes. "The wide world of skills and you're terrible at _drawing_?"

"What can I say?" She shrugged. Then it slipped out before she could stop, "I guess my parents just didn't think it was a useful skill…" Alex trailed off at the end, realizing she had made a mistake. She shouldn't have said that. Hopefully, with his shock, he would just ignore the comment.

"What do you mean?"

No such luck.

Alex was about to snap at him, for no good reason. It wasn't his fault he was asking a question about her slip up. Still, he was moving dangerously close to a nerve. But when she opened her mouth to snap, she found his eyes filled with tears, trembling like a raindrop that could pop at any moment. _Oh God. _She couldn't have him crying, not now. If she shut down on him, she may as well bomb the dam herself. Time for some tweaked explaining that she _really_ didn't feel like doing.

"What do you mean?" Sam repeated. "A useful skill?"

"My parents," She started reluctantly, "Wanted my brother and I to learn things that would help us survive." _That was one way of saying it, anyways_. "Drawing was fun. It was extra. Not needed."

"That's harsh," Sam grimaced. Alex just shrugged and moved to cleaning his hands. "So you never did anything fun, then?" He asked when she didn't continue. "No going to the movies or out with friends or school dances?"

"Home schooled for most of my life," She responded. "And no."

"What about archery? That's not exactly a modern survival skill."

"Archery is the one thing that _I_ got to choose. The one thing that they didn't force upon me. That's why I love it so much."

Sam leaned back, obviously a little more relaxed, and regarded the sky. "Your parents were that oppressive and you never tried to rebel or anything? I mean, I ran away from mine twice when they wouldn't let me buy a Lambo. And yes, I know how that sounds, and I'm not proud," He added when Alex's features contorted, incredulous. "Believe me. I'm a spoiled brat, blah blah blah, old news. What about you?"

She was quiet for a moment, taking his arm and scrubbing it. "My brother was an amazing artist."

"You mean, 'is'?" Sam raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, that's what I meant." _Whoops_. "Anyways, he drew a lot when he was younger and managed to hide it from Mom and Dad. I was pretty terrible apart from it not being allowed but he… was excellent." She smiled nostalgically, recalling long-buried memories. "He used to do these caricatures, really silly, to make me laugh, but he could draw beautiful landscape portraits, too. They were only ever done in pencil or pen because we didn't have colored markers or pencils or crayons in our house. He drew in secret as much as he could. But Mom and Dad caught him once…"

"And…?" Sam prompted.

"And the fallout was enough to scare either of us from rebelling in little ways like that ever again."

Sam frowned and Alex could practically see the questions bubbling up. She shouldn't have tried to explain anything. He was an inquisitive person, he would just keep pushing her until he got answers. "Well, what did they do?" He asked. "Take away his sketchbook? Hide it on top of the fridge?"

"Something like that," She muttered.

"It was worse? Did they scream at you?" He grinned. "Did they put you in time out?"

"Shut _up_," She hissed. "You don't know what you're talking about." She finally finished scrubbing the blood off his body and threw the sleeve-rag down roughly.

Sam made a face, almost like he was hurt, before a snarky mask overhauled his features. "Aw, you're gonna get super sensitive all of a sudden? Excuse me for wanting to know more about you," He scoffed. "I should've known you'd clam up."

"Whatever," She rolled her eyes. "The only reason I told you that stuff was because you completely disconnected. Now that I'm finally through to you, here's what I have to say: Get your head in the game. This has been a terrible night, but you can't go blank on us. We need you to be able to defend yourself. And try not to trip again," She sneered. Sam crossed his arms and glared at her. Okay, that last part may have been a little jerky, but if he hadn't have tripped they probably would not be in this situation right now. Tom was still sitting on the other side of the creek, shivering hard. The water probably made the air one thousand times colder. Even her hands, which had just been immersed, were completely numb, which was not a positive sign. She rubbed her temples. They absolutely ached. _We need to get out of here and back to the Compound_. She located a tree with low enough branches that she could climb easily.

She walked over and stopped at the base, turning to the boys. "I'm going to climb and see if I can find the road." They nodded, and as she began to climb, congregated at the bottom of the tree. Alex had always been a proficient climber. Her small figure helped. The weaker branches could hold her weight easily, but she also felt at home the higher she went. Plus, climbing was uncomplicated, hand over hand, foot over foot. Once she was mostly out from under the canopy of leaves, it became easier to see. Halfway up the tree, she could already glimpse a source of light from an area with no trees, probably the road where they had come from. It was due North. She guessed the light was produced by the abandoned trucks, since their drivers were all dead. _Oh Jesus._

Alex was just fine standing on a branch one moment, but in the next, the world turned upside down. It started spinning all of a sudden, and before she knew it, she was free falling. She should have grabbed for a branch, she felt her fingers graze a few, but she didn't. She opened her eyes and stared up at the starry sky, leaves rushing past. The fall felt longer than she was sure it actually was. She had the fleeting thought that maybe she was flying, but then she hit something solid.

It wasn't the ground, she didn't hurt enough. What she'd fallen onto was moving, a mess of what felt like arms. She turned her head to the left and right there, almost nose to nose, was Sam. On the right was Tom. They'd caught her. She was lying in their arms. "Oh, hi boys." She struggled out of their arms as quickly as she could, despite Sam's protests, and dropped onto the ground. The dizziness was still persisting. "That was a rush." She put one hand to the ground and curled the other over her stomach. "I think I'm going to barf. Again."

"Oh my God," Sam muttered, kneeling next to her. Apparently he was over their earlier interaction. There were tears in his eyes again, and Alex wasn't sure if he even knew they were there. "Are you alright? As soon as you said you were climbing up there, I knew it wasn't a good idea. You're dizzy from the concussion, you shouldn't have-"

"Stop blubbering, she's fine," Tom interrupted. "Did you see the road?"

"Yeah, I did," Alex replied as Sam deflated. "And I think the trucks are still there. "It's straight North. We should go." Tom started walking off without a moment's hesitation, so Sam and Alex had to scramble to catch up.

\--

"No no no no NO!" Tom screamed, slamming the dashboard of the truck. "There are no keys!" He yelled to Alex and Sam, who were standing outside.

"Did you look _everywhere_?" Sam asked.

"Of course I did!" He snapped.

"Move," Alex instructed. When Tom only looked at her incredulously, she grabbed the front of his shirt and yanked him out of the driver's seat, taking his place. She ignored his, 'What the fuck' and scanned the truck. _Nothing, nothing, nothing… there._ Right next to the accelerator, embedded in the floor, there was a panel, almost impossible to see. The only thing that alerted her to it was the tiny square outline it left in the floor of the truck. She leaned down to inspect it, finding it slightly ajar. She ripped the cover off of the compartment, dug inside, and lifted out a pair of car keys. She held them up to the boys triumphantly. "Appears you didn't look hard enough, Tom."

He scoffed and tried to grab the keys, but she pulled them away. "Nuh-uh, I found 'em, I get to drive."

"What are you, like sixteen?" He rolled his eyes. "Please. Do you even have a driver's license?"

"Mmm… no?" She had to think about it for a moment. "I knew how to drive like a professional by the time I was eleven, so I've never really found it important. But I suppose I should get one sometime," She shrugged. "Now get in the truck."

They disgruntledly yielded to her, Sam muttering something about how 'of course she could drive' blah blah blah on the way to the passenger side. Honestly, when is he going to stop being shocked about these things? The boys slid in next to her, Sam sitting on the center console and Tom in the passenger seat. It was a tight fit, but roomy enough.

As she started up the truck, Sam rubbed his face, choking back a sob. He tried to do it inconspicuously, but Alex and Tom both heard. Whereas Alex chose to ignore him, Tom did the opposite. "Why don't you just fucking cry already, you big baby," He snapped, and turned toward his window. He laid his head on his hand as if he was going to try and sleep. _Awesome_, She thought. _I hope he does, I won't have to listen to him any longer, God._

Sam just curled his fists, probably trying his hardest not to beat the living crap out of the asshole.

"_Yay, roadtrip,_" She whispered, making use of the built in GPS the truck had. She typed in the coordinates for the Compound and set off.

\--

The Avengers were gathered in Mission Control, the room they normally used for briefings. Thor, Natasha, and Clint were gathered at the screen reserved for aerial drone footage placed on the left wall, scanning the broadcasts. As soon as he'd been able, Tony had sent out a volley of drones, hoping that one might catch a glimpse of the kids. So far, nothing. An hour and a half and they had _nothing_. Bruce and Steve were sitting across from Tony, who was anxiously tapping away at a tablet, communicating with security to make sure they hadn't seen anything helpful. They hadn't. Whoever had broken in to the Compound had to have professional training. It was extremely difficult to work around his security systems and never before had FRIDAY been totally knocked out. A new message from security came through, and he clicked to open the file. It was a photo of four employees, cleaning crew maybe, and they were all dead. Bullet holes. Tony shifted in his roller chair, shaking out another tremor that hit his good hand. They always started up when he got anxious like this.

"Let me," Bruce reached for the tablet. "Let me handle this."

Tony was about to protest when Steve snapped, "_Stark_." It was clear in his perfect, piercing eyes that if he did not surrender the tablet now, Steve would personally rip it out of his grasp. He grumbled and tossed the device at Bruce, unable to contain his frustration.

He remembered just eight hours prior to this situation, Sam and him were tinkering in the lab. It was normally where they spent the most time together, and Sam really shone in that setting. He reminded Tony of a young him, but less playboy-ey. That was surprising, considering Sam's reputation, but if there was one thing Tony understood, it was the media faking drama for their magazines. The tabloids painted him as a player, sleeping around, a rarely-serious party boy, but Tony found him to be the exact opposite. The young man he knew was extremely dedicated to his work and inventions, intelligent and passionate. True, he could be abrasive or insensitive at times, but Tony was aware that he was trying to work on that. And when his softer side came out? It was heartwarming to say the least. Once, Morgan had wandered into the lab wanting to build something, and Sam had happily indulged her for hours. The best part about Sam, though, was his fervor. The expression on his face when he held up a functional, completed invention was enough to give Tony a major burst of pride, even on his worst days. His hair would be messy from working for hours, the bags under his eyes prevalent, but that light in his eyes? The goofy, lopsided grin that was so different from the perfectionist one he gave the cameras? In those moments, it was like Sam knew that he did okay. Like he was proud of himself. Like he could be himself. And that's all Tony wanted for him.

So why then, did Tony use that moment in the lab eight hours prior to tell Sam he should practice more on that Godforsaken parkour course? The kid had been having trouble with that torture device ever since he'd gotten here, and Tony had told him to practice more. And for what? Tony wasn't able to complete that course, and he probably never could have, even when he was younger. Even Steve, gymnastics master, usually had trouble making it to the end. The only ones who made the obstacles appear simple were Clint, Natasha, and now Alex, which was to be expected. When FRIDAY set off the alarm, when FRIDAY had _shut_ _off_, he had been in Gym 2, with the course. If Tony hadn't suggested Sam practice last night, he may have been safe with them in the Residence. He may have been sitting across from Tony now.

"_Sir, you have incoming._" FRIDAY reported. "_A large tractor-trailer truck approaching the front gate. The thermal scan reads that there are three individuals currently residing inside._"

Tony wasn't Pietro Maximoff by any standard, but with how fast he slid over to the large touchscreen covering most of the right wall, he may as well have been. Tapping the screen to show a larger rendering of the truck, he asked, "Can you identify the individuals, FRI?" When she responded that she couldn't, he frowned deeply. "Okay. Okay," Tony rubbed his chin in thought. "Have security force the three out of the truck, and if it is the kids, bring them here. If it's not… check their credentials, obviously." As FRIDAY took the order, he glanced back at his teammates. They gave nods of reassurance. Everyone except Clint of course, but Tony didn't have time to worry about him right now.

He swiped the screen to a live recording of the front gate, via security camera. The tractor-trailer came to a stop about 10 feet away, and security closed in. They held their guns carefully, but not like they would use them, conscientious that they didn't know who was inside the truck. When nothing happened for a few seconds, Tony scrubbed a hand over his face, anxious. Then, the driver side door swung open and Alex stumbled out. She seemed unsteady, but conscious enough. When a few guards stepped forward to intercept her, grabbing her arms, she jerked away and turned back toward the truck. Tomen stepped into view of the camera, Sam after him. The guards must have explained what was going on, because the three nodded and followed the commander of the security team into the Compound.

"_They're bringing them to you, Boss,"_ FRIDAY announced. As Tony turned back to his team, he noticed both himself and Clint slump forward in relief, the tension leaking out of their shoulders. Steve's jaw relaxed a bit, and Natasha leaned against the wall casually.

"They're alright," Bruce muttered and Thor let out a belly laugh, releasing all the nervousness he'd been feeling that night.

"Looks like s'not as bad as we thought, yes?" He grinned. Tony didn't dare to hope. They couldn't be completely fine, right? Unless his luck had suddenly changed, the kids likely would not be 'alright'.

The room lapsed into silence. It took a couple of minutes for the apprentices to arrive, but when they did, Clint and Tony both rushed forward.

Tony made a beeline for Sam and Tomen, reaching Sam first. He inspected the kid. An obvious broken nose, but no cuts, no bruises. A little out of it, but that was to be expected. He was definitely in shock and probably had some kind of concussion. Tony placed a hand on Sam's cheek and patted in a fatherly way, trying to offer some form of reassurance. Tomen was standing behind the pair, sulking. He seemed very alert, but his face was dark. Tony moved to stand in front of him and reached for him. "Are you okay?"

"No," Tomen snapped, moving backwards.

"What happened?"

"Why don't you know? I was the one who froze my ass off for an hour in the goddamn middle-of-no-where-woods. Don't ask me!" Tomen turned away, arms crossed.

"We focused all of our energy on finding you," Steve came to his defense.

Tomen spun on the captain. "But you didn't, did you? We made our _own_ way back, didn't we?"

The Avengers collectively grimaced. It was true. They had failed to locate the teenagers when it mattered most.

Out of the corner of his eye, Tony saw Clint touch a gash on Alex's forehead, and she sucked in air through her teeth, emitting a little hissing sound. She was standing with Clint, his hand on her shoulder. She had her arms wrapped 'round her stomach, and appeared to be doing all she could to hold herself together. She wasn't crying or shaking, but Tony recognized the sound of shallow breathing, no matter how quiet she was trying to make it.

All eyes turned to her, and her grip on herself tightened. "I… we…" she trailed off, and closed her eyes, sucking in a deep breath, before continuing. She gave them a play by play of the night, the pit in Tony's stomach deepening with each sentence.

Finally when she looked like she was going to be sick, Clint shushed her. "Okay," he murmured, folding her into his arms, stroking her hair. A fatherly gesture. If Tony tried to do the same with Tomen, the boy would probably hit him. Clint closed his eyes briefly. "That's enough. It's okay." Alex shuttered.

Steve grabbed a tablet off of the large table they'd been sitting at and pulled up a picture of the dead men Thor and Bruce had found in their sweep. "You mentioned the men chasing you," He commented. "Did they look like this?" He held up the tablet for her to see.

She scanned the image for a moment, and everyone held their breath. She finally swallowed. "Yes. Yes, that was them. But not the ones that were chasing Sam and I. We took down six men but we didn't kill them. They must have recovered quickly because we saw them later."

"I killed those two," Tomen spoke up, ambling over to the table and taking a seat in a rolling chair. Tony turned on him. The boy had said it so flippiantly, like it wasn't a big deal. He opened his mouth and then closed it, searching for the right words. He glanced at Steve, but he looked at a loss as well. Tomen noticed the exchange. "What?" He asked. "They were chasing me, so I killed them. They fucking shot me by the way, thanks for noticing." Tomen gingerly removed his hand from his right bicep, revealing a bullet wound there. _For God's sake._ Tony scrambled over. "Why wasn't he brought to the infirmary straight away, FRIDAY?" He demanded.

"You ordered that the apprentices be brought here, Boss."

"I know what I said, but why-"

"Wait," Alex said loudly, staring at Tomen. He stared back. "You mean to tell me that eight wasn't enough? There are two more?"

"Excuse me?" Natasha asked. "Eight more? Of what?"

"Dead men," Alex answered, still death staring at Tomen.

Bruce shifted uncomfortably. "You told us you outran them in the woods and got back to the trucks before they did."

"Yeah, that's what I said," Alex confirmed, "But it's not the truth. I don't know why I felt I should cover for him, but I did," She spit, pointing at Tomen. They were locked in a staring contest now.

"What really happened? He killed eight men in the woods. Shot 'em, right in the head."

"What?" Tony asked faintly. He didn't want to believe that.

"Yup, no hesitation. I had already disabled some of them and he _still_ murdered them in cold blood!" She yelled, pushing away from Clint in her anger. He tried to comfort her but she shoved him off, moving closer to Tomen. "They didn't need to die."

"They would have killed us in a heartbeat," Tomen growled. "I did us a favor." He stood up from his spot at the table.

Steve stepped towards them and held out his hands amiably. "Okay, you two, let's-"

"They could have been brought back here," Alex interrupted. Steve tried to butt in again but she kept going. "We could've interrogated them and found out what they wanted, and going trigger happy is no excuse to-"

"You're in no place to judge though, are you, Alexandra?" Tomen spit, and Alex didn't argue. Tony glanced between the two, wondering what he meant. Tomen propped his arm up on the edge of the table and continued. "You're perfectly content to mount your moral high horse when it's convenient for you. Making me out as the bad guy. You did the same thing as I did tonight."

"I didn't kill_ ten_ people," She hissed.

"Right, only one! Like that's so much better! You're such a saint!" He threw his good arm up in the air.

The Avengers drew a collective breath. Natasha shifted to a different foot and pushed off the wall, obviously uncomfortable. The argument was getting out of control, they were bashing each other over sensitive topics. If Tony didn't do something, they'd never be able to reconcile. He started to walk toward Tomen at the table, but Alex beat him to it.

She cut Tony off as she crossed the room and slammed a hand down on the tabletop next to Tomen. He had no choice but to fall back down into his chair and she loomed over him. With the clarion bang, Tony glimpsed Bruce placing a hand over his mouth, nervous but not willing to stand and interrupt this explosion. Tony made eye contact with Steve, his eyes concerned but hesitative. He realized that they all needed to see how this would turn out, which was why he stayed back at that moment.

Alex was still a few feet away from Tomen when she hit the table, but Tony noticed him visibly flinch. Something in her demeanor was like he'd never seen before coming from the girl. "When you killed those men, you knew what you were doing. And then you shot them a second time, when they were obviously already dead. The decision to kill that man, for me, was not conscious," She announced clearly. "In the heat of the fight, it just happened. It was an _accident_."

With the last second she leaned down closer to Tomen 's face and he snarled. "There's no way you can snap someone's neck without meaning to, you delusional bitch!" He reached up with his left hand and slapped Alex across the face.

Her head snapped to the side and Tony and Clint both gasped. She didn't stumble backwards. She didn't cry, even though Tony could see a red mark appearing on her cheek where he had struck her. Her stance didn't change. She only slowly turned her head back in Tomen's direction. There was one second where it felt like time absolutely froze, everything happening so fast and so slow at the same time. Then, before any of the Avengers could react, Alex grabbed Tom's arms and threw him onto the ground. She dropped and shoved a knee into his chest, pinning his wrists to the marble floor with her own hands. "If you _ever_," She growled, "Lay your hands on me again, I will put you in a hospital bed. Do we have an understanding?"

Tom swallowed. He was obviously stressed, but he looked murderously furious. "Like you could." He smirked angrily. "I'd love to see you try."

She opened her mouth to answer, but instead closed it, lips growing a small smile. Without a word, she jammed a finger into the bullethole in his right bicep.

Tomen screamed, and continued screaming. She only seemed to be pushing deeper, with no signs of stopping. Steve launched forward, but he was across the room, and she now had both hands on his right arm, which left his other limb open to shoot out and wrap around her neck. She choked and released pressure on him. He flipped her onto her back, knocking the wind out of her. She gasped for breath, grabbing his thumb connected to the hand around her neck and bending it back at a sickeningly unnatural angle. Tony heard the pop.

Clint and Steve raced to the kids, finally unfrozen. Tony couldn't say the same for himself. It had all happened so fast. Clint shoved past him, snatching Alex up once Steve dragged Tom, who had curled up on the floor when she dislocated his thumb, to the other side of Mission Control. His hand had only been around her neck for less than four seconds, but he must have hit pressure points, because Alex was hacking painfully. She was on her knees with one palm braced against the floor. Her other was held up towards Clint, a clear message: _Don't touch me._

Tony shook his head, heading towards Tomen for a second before remembering he had another apprentice. _Sam? Where is Sam?_ Tony had completely forgotten about the kid in the midst of all the chaos. A pang of guilt stabbed his heart as he did a 360. He found Sam near the doorway to Control, crouched against the wall. His arms were wrapped around his torso, he looked too pale, and he was sobbing violently. Tears streaming down his face, hiccups, shallow breaths, the full package.

"FRIDAY," Tony ordered, "Get some medics and stretchers down here right now."


End file.
